


Self Indulgent Garbage

by XSuicuneX



Series: Immersiontale [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, I am so fucking sorry for potential ooc in here I'm actually new to the UT fandom, Ink is an asshole, M/M, dimentional hopping for fun and profit!, doing this to cure writer's block it's so cringy, i posted this just to make stupid tags lawl, indulgent player headcanons, ink gets a 'dog', looking at you author, lots of dead kids, shameless self insert is shameless, this is awful really it is why are you here, tw: hints of dead kids, tw: hints of real events, tw: war and army shit, when for once the true answer WASN'T mercy and we still failed, whoever thought this bastard would be a decent guide was an idiot and should be fired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2019-06-11 14:36:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15317628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XSuicuneX/pseuds/XSuicuneX
Summary: You have too many damn sins on your back but whatever, it's fine. You're used to it.Just play the game and forget for a few hours...Karma is such a bitch ain't it? (fuck your life)((and ink/oc story because I have literally no shame anymore. Those wanting fuzzy feelings should really, ah, look elsewhere. I apologize in advance and can not vouch for the quality))





	1. We're So Fucked

**Author's Note:**

> So the answer to severe writer's block (and depression) is to write the worst idea you can think of and just...roll with it. 
> 
> Okay.
> 
> Here we go. 
> 
> ((I don't own Ink by the by or Undertale or any of that just reminding y'all))

**File: open**

**Undertale: Start**

It starts in silence.

A dark room in a dusky corner, hidden from light, at a perfectly unreasonable hour. You stare for a long time at the screen on your lap, a dark blankess as the file loads.

It’s just a game…right? Just numbers and codes, a program cleverly made, there’s nothing wrong with this. Nothing at all.

Music plays, you skip through the intro, until you’re faced with a window lined in glowing amber, with two choices backed by a black screen.

True Reset.

Yes?

…Or No?

You take a deep breath, though honestly you’re uncertain why you’re hesitating. You’ve done this before, it’s just a game. Or maybe it’s something else that’s making you hesitate, something that has nothing to do with what’s in front of you.

You’re good at distractions.

You’re so good at them, you don’t even notice how unfamiliar this all feels…

You select the YES option, forgetting that you’re supposed to get a certain message from a certain flower before all this first, when suddenly, the moment you hit enter, it freezes.

The screen flickers, and it extends out to your entire desktop. You frown, confused, wondering if perhaps there was a virus written into the code (there shouldn’t be, you got this legitimately.)

Then, a familiar face appears.

Pale skin, rosey cheeks, black, soulless eyes dripping inky shadows with a gaping black mouth. You’re frozen to your seat, not understanding, not comprehending. It’s just a game. Just a _game_!

Then, a laugh, glitchy, shrill. Your computer flickers and goes black.

And then a hand reaches out, digs into your chest,

**And drags you in.**


	2. In which a soulless skeleton gets a new dog

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate first person (I'm so sorry.)

My name is Re.

I’m in my thirties, roughly early middle aged, I’m plump, blood is B positive, I’m a Sagittarius…

You’re probably wondering why I’m even here, huh?

Well, the truth is, I was wondering the same thing for a while.

The last thing I remembered was the computer screen glitching out…and that awful, hideous face…It was only made worse when it took up the whole desktop, as opposed to a tiny little window in the game. Surely, what happened was just a dream, right? Maybe I’d eaten something bad. It wouldn’t be the first time, and I certainly  _felt_ sick enough for it.

But when I opened my eyes, it was very clear to me that a dream it was  _not_.

I groaned, shifted to sit, blinking bleary and not entirely awake eyes at my surroundings. My stomach clenched painfully, and if not for that I would’ve wondered if I  _wasn’t_ hallucinating. Because surely that was the only explanation for what I saw, wasn’t it? It had to be. Nothing like this could’ve ever existed in the world that I knew.

It was, in short, a  **total mess.**

The sky was a myriad of colors, rainbows, greens, blues, reds, all the colors one could think of. And the ground…what there was of it…was floating. I was lying on a green patch full of greenery and dirt. To my left was another large piece of land that was made of what looked like metal, like a bit of broken off scaffolding. Everywhere there were these little islands, like bits and pieces of different landscapes, and in front of me was one of the biggest…with what looked like a glowing…gateway..?

I blinked, starring at the gate, which seemed to swirl in too many colors to number, making me dizzy and more nauseous than I already was. I closed my eyes and turned away, not able to bare looking at it a second longer.

I groaned, then stood up, taking stock of my person. I wasn’t physically damaged in any way, nor were my clothes, a blue tank top and pair of pajama pants…though, wearing pajamas in some random new technicolor world was probably not the  _best_ situation I’d ever been in.

There comes a time in everyone’s life where one must make a choice. I, of course, faced that now. I could either stay in one spot and wait for whatever lived in this crazy world to come to me, or I could investigate and see what this place had to offer.

Naturally I did the stupid thing and opted for option three and slipped off the island I was standing on.

…

I was trying to climb the  _scaffolding_ …like a _dingus_.

“shit shit Shit Shit SHIT SHIT!!!!”

I screamed, I cursed, I cried. Y’know, normal things one does while falling to their death. Honestly the world I was in seemed so  _endless_ that I’m wondering why I waisted so much energy. I never saw a ground, just colors and colors and islands whizzing past me, and what looked to be a lone figure laying down doodling on some paper on one of them.

Fate has a funny way of bringing people together, I’ve found.

It was this person who saved me, or rather, this monster…guy…he looked like a normal guy when I glimpsed him, or maybe some sham of a anime character, but he’d prove to be more than that. Y’see, he had this giant  _brush_ on his back that was apparently magic, and he used that brush to paint a bit of land for me to…ah…hit.

“Omph!”

Not the most graceful landing, and the entirety of my front was purple for my trouble.

I groaned and lifted myself onto my knees, hand rubbing my face and trying to, futilely, get the paint off. From a thump to my right, I knew whoever saved me had landed on the paint island as well, but my eyes were blurry so it took me a bit to see just who my good Samaritan was.

“Hey, are you alright? That looked like quite a fall.” His voice seemed friendly enough, mid ranged and relaxed. I turned to face him. “Where’d you come from anyway?” He bent down to meet me, and that’s when I noticed a rather prominent feature.

That is to say…he wasn’t human, and where I come from, that’s not normal.

“Eep!” I squeaked and backed away as quick as I could (thankfully not so far that I fell off again) holding my arm up in front of me in some futile form of protection. He just stared blankly, hand held out to help me up hanging in the air.

He was basically a skeleton (and how he managed blinking I still don’t know), in place of eyes were two empty eyesockets that glowed with multi, constantly changing lights. His clothes were, ah, well they included a giant scarf and belt and sash, from which hung a multi arrangement of heart capped paint bottles. And on his back, most prominently, was said giant paintbrush that was responsible for my rescue.

In short, I was most certainly stuck in an anime.

“Ah…” He began, standing up and rubbing a…hand…? over his skull. “Sorry, I’m not gonna hurt you or anything. This is your first time seeing a monster, right?” He then smiled brightly, the eyes changing to a bright yellow star. “You can call me Ink! Allow me to welcome you to the Doodlesphere!” With that last bit he gestured to all around us.

Naturally I took this about as well as one would expect.

I laughed, couldn’t help it, and if there was a twinge of hysteria added to it I couldn’t be blamed. I ran a paint covered hand through my hair, eyes barely focusing on what was in front of them. “You’ve gotta be kidding…” I managed, a brilliant first introduction. “This can’t be real…this has to be a dream!”

“Ah…well, it would probably seem that way…” He responded, as if talking to a gal in the midst of a panic attack was a brilliant idea. “How did you even…?” He began, before trailing off abruptly. “Nevermind. This is a perfectly normal reaction to falling through the multiverse.” No kidding. “But don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay. I’ll help you find your way back!” He grinned brilliantly, like some knight covered in paint with an overgrown paintbrush.

I couldn’t help but laugh again, eyes shifting back to him. “’Multiverse’? You’re kidding.” I deadpanned. I shifted to stand, hands gripping my hair. “No. This has got to be a hallucination…” I began to pace. “A dream, a…a nightmare a…” I paused, then abruptly turned to him, gesturing at his clothes. “I’m  _stuck_ in a  _cartoon_ I can’t be here! I-“ I cut myself off, flashes of memories darting through my mind. A dark room, a rifle in my hands, a flash and the sound of firing, a uniform…

I shuddered and fell to my knees again. I shouldn’t  _be_ here I…

**I had something more to do.**

I kneeled there, lost in my thoughts until the pressure of a bony hand rested on my shoulder. “Hey…uh…miss? You alright there?” Said the skeleton. I turned to him, blinking slowly as I came out of it.

Well…this apparently was my life now.

“…Yeah.” I answered, nodding slightly. “…got it outta my system.” Most of it anyway. He gave me a little pat and took the hand away, grinning again.

“Okay…let’s try this again.” He started, holding out his hand once more. “My name’s Ink, and this is the Doodleverse. Who’re you?” He seemed friendly enough, so I took his hand and he helped me up. Looking at him…he was kind of short, going only up to my shoulders.

I tried a smile of my own, more than a bit embarrassed that I’d flipped my shit in front of a complete stranger, though it wouldn’t be the first time (unfortunately.) “Re.” I introduced, then glanced around the area once again. “And….I have no idea how I ended up here…” I frowned, hands crossing in front of my stomach. “Seriously…this stuff just does not  _happen_  normally, I…am I dreaming?” Then I proceeded to pinch myself, like you do.

It hurt.

Ink arched a brow (somehow) and starred at me like I was crazy, which, to be fair, I wasn’t exactly acting sane so I could hardly blame him.

“You’re kidding…” I stated in awe, eyes unable to tear away from his giant brush. “If Son Goku shows up do me a favor and shoot me.” I mumbled, pouting. All my years waiting for an adventure and this just had to be it. It was the  _worst_.

“O…kay? I have no idea who that is…?” Ink responded, staring at me warily. Then he seemed to shake it off, as if determined to have a normal conversation with me. The fool. “What do you remember last?” He asked, stating the most reasonable thing said all conversation.

I paused in thought for a moment, thinking back. “Uh…well, I was about to replay Undertale…” I began, frowning. I was looking at the sky so I missed the frozen expression on Ink’s face. I bit my lip. “…then something really weird happened…”

“And what was that?” He asked, voice sounding a little strained.

“I think…?” I began, closing my eyes to better remember that  _terrifying_  face. “Chara…? Pulled me in? I dunno how that’s even possible I mean, their hand came out of a freakin’ computer screen so…” I laughed, then glanced back at him, only to make note of his face. His eyelights were pinpricks, and he looked, somehow, paler than normal. He was pointing at me with a shaking hand, mouth gaping.

“You’re a creator…” He said, voice faint and in awe.

“I’m a what now?” I asked warily.

He then brightened up with the biggest smile I’d seen on him thus far, it was almost manic. He moved in a blink to be right in my face, eyelights big and bright and flickering rapidly. “You’re a  _creator!_  You made all this! Or other’s like you I guess. How are you even  _here?_ Did you say Chara dragged you in? But how’s that even possible? I mean, clearly you were about to make a reset and they don’t usually like those but to  _drag you in_ I…” With every word he circled around me, examining me from every side, my arms, my legs, my hair, he poked and prodded me as if I were some strange new animal, which I guess I was, though I didn’t understand what he was saying in the slightest. He laughed. “This should be impossible!”

I huffed, shoulders slumping. “That’s what I keep _saying_.” I grumbled. “What, are you telling me I’m actually in the game or something?” I asked.

“Yes!” And he answered, brightly and cheerfully, which then brought to mind the fact that he  _was_ incredibly familiar, even if his attitude was rather…atypical…and then that brought up fandoms and blogs and hours and hours of writing and…

And suddenly I  _knew_.

“You’re a sans…” I stated, voice weak. I would’ve fallen over in that moment if he hadn’t braced me with his arm around my back, still smiling brightly as ever.

“Exactly! Or, well, an alt of one.” He replied, then he led me over a corner of the paint island, conjuring up a stump with his brush before setting me down atop it. Probably wise in this situation. He crouched in front of me so we could meet eye to eye. “I still can’t believe it myself. A creator…here!” He laughed again. “And NOT coded in by hacking! I wonder how your Chara did it…?” He stroked his chin, looking away from me, meanwhile I was too busy facing the second mental crises in a day-wait, my chara?

“Clearly the way to get you back is to find them and ask them to send you home.” He stated, glancing at me again. Then his eyes flicked over my form and he frowned. “Might need to get you some new clothes first though…”

I crossed my arms over my chest then, flushing. “...Eh?” I responded eloquently.

He snorted and stood up, spinning his brush with a flourish before planting it firmly butt down beside him. “Don’t worry, I can just paint some up for you!” He paused then peered intently at me. “Hmm…actually, since you’re a creator…” He snapped, then pulled some paper from gods know where and handed it to me, as well as a pencil from his sash. “Here! You draw what you want, and I’ll paint it up for you!”

I took both and frowned, staring at the blank paper. “Uh…draw…?” I began. He couldn’t be serious.

“Of course!” ...he was. “You don’t think I’d give you knew clothes without giving you the option to pick them out yourself do you? Besides!” He shut his eyes, making his smile about ten times cuter, the suave ass. “I kinda wanna see what your style looks like!”

Oh god, he was actually serious. He wanted to see me draw. I swallowed and gave a nervous smile before glancing down at the paper. This was a first for me, never had I had to  _perform_ art for someone…at least not someone who wasn’t a teacher…

It was  _terrifying_.

“Ah…are you…absolutely sure you want me to draw them…?” I began, more than a bit of shaking in my voice. His smile faded a little.

“Of course!” He stated, brows furrowing. “…Do, you not want to…?”

“It’s just that-!” I began, choking up on the last bit. This was…a little hard to admit and I had no idea why. Self deprecation was a skill I had mastered quite a while ago. Heck, it was practically my comedic routine! “I….kind of…suck?”

Way to fail the landing there Re. Way to fail the landing.

He blinked. Then grinned. “I’m sure you’re not that bad.” He offered, such a sweet, utterly naive fool. “Just draw what you want, I’ll use it as a guide.”

Well, if he was gonna just use it as a guide…I sighed and started to draw, with Ink hovering over my shoulder the entire time. To his credit, he was quiet, though it didn’t help my performance anxiety any.

As it stood, I finished quickly and slid it over to him. He took it and…paused, studying it for several moments.

“This…is  _really_ bad.” He stated, and I groaned, burying my face into my arms and curling up into a ball on the stump.

“Uggghh, shut uuup!” I whined. My face was surely a cherry by then. “I  _told_ you!”

He laughed. “I’m sorry, it’s just…why are there ears and a tale in this?”

I muttered something unintelligible, to which an eloquent “Huh?” was replied. Then I answered slightly louder, “Because I like it shut up.”

He sighed, then stood up. “Aright then…get up. I’ll see what I can do.”

I stood up, then, after glancing at the giant brush suddenly full of paint I shut my eyes (don’t want those splatters after all.) With a few quick strokes all around my person he made a satisfied sound. “Alright, I took a few...ah, liberties, I hope you don’t mind.” He stated.

I opened my eyes.

In place of my sleepwear I was wearing a black iridescent sleeveless felt shirt with a dove grey lotus skirt beneath it. Over that was a black duster trench coat and on my head was my old reliable trilby (or a version of it). A phantom sensation alerted me to my other, ah, _additions_ as well, where a set of brown wolf ears rested on my head…sticking through holes in my hat…and a, ah, wolf tail stuck out from beneath my skirt. It was impressive, honestly.

“Not bad…” I complimented him, quickly getting memorized by the way the rainbow colors shimmered in the black felt of my shirt.

Ink seemed to get just as memorized (who hasn’t when it’s shiny and soft?) and we spent a moment making the colors shift on my belly before he seemed to snap out of it. “Ah! Right…uh…what were we doing again…?” He asked somewhat sheepishly.

Seemed we had a bit in common.

I took a moment to think seeing as how I lost the train as well as he had, before I remembered. “Ah…Chara…?” I asked.

He snapped, grinning again. “Right! Now that you’re clothed, let’s go find them and get you back home-! Er…” He paused, glancing at my ears again. “…Why…really…why did you want those…?”

I sighed and turn away, flushing. “Hey, do YOU want all those monsters to attack us just cuz I look like a human? This way that’ll happen less!” I stated, which isn’t the actual reason at all but no way was I going to admit to it.

He didn’t look convinced, but he shrugged and dropped it. “Ah well, guess you’re right.” Totally not convinced. “Now, I don’t know exactly  _which_ Chara would be  _your_ Chara but…I’m sure we’ll find them!” He grinned again. “And in the meantime, might as well explore all the other AU’s while we look for them, right?”

Maybe he just wanted someone to share this with? I had no idea, but…

As I took his hand and he painted up another of those swirling colorful portals…I had a feeling.

That this was the start of a hectic adventure, and apparently a really weird friendship.

_Falling into a new world and making friends with an anime skeleton_

_You are filled with…_

_\--------_


	3. What are the Flower Parts called Again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winter blows y'all.

As soon as we exited the portal, the first thing I noticed was how _cold_ it was.

I cursed softly, wrapping my arms around myself, glad that I’d included a coat with the outfit change. Ink arched a brow at me, amused….damn skeletons and their apparent immunity to cold.

“Where are we?” I asked, grumpily. Gods I _hate_ ice and snow.

“You mean, you don’t recognize this place?” He asked, gesturing to the surrounding forest, other hand resting on his hip. “I thought you played this game.”

It took me a moment, but then my scowl increased. “Fucking _snowdin_.” I grumbled. Of _course_.

I sighed and glanced around, taking in the area from this side of the screen. You don’t notice it, thanks to only viewing the world through a top down visual medium, but the Underground is….quiet. Sound’s muffled thanks to the atmosphere, and it’s…colder.

And darker.

I glanced up, peering at the sky and, sure enough, glowing stones winked at me through atmospheric fog, brighter and steadier than regular stars. The scent too, was different. Earthier, wetter. I wondered if it would change any when we got to the other zones…

I glanced around at the trees, noticing how bare they were, then looked behind us. The path was familiar…

“Are we outside the ruins?” I asked my…guide, I guess is what he was at this point. I still wasn’t sure what to make of him.

He nodded, grinning brightly. “Yup! Not sure where the human is, so I figured we might as well start from the, ah, start, and work our way from there!” He glanced away. “Or at least close to it…”

I arched a brow. “…What about the ruins?”

He arched one back. “Do _you_ wanna go through the entire tutorial and deal with the queen?”

I stared at him for a moment, then huffed. Having to get past Toriel _would_ be a pain. “Fiiiiiiine.” Besides, it’d probably be easier to avoid most of the other monsters outside of the ruins, I doubted Ink wanted to get entangled in other universal affairs.

At least that’s the vibe I was getting off him, he hadn’t explained to me yet how he could do all the shit he did or what the hell his purpose was in all this or his intentions in helping me. Not like I had any choice but to go along with it anyway.

“Hey!” Called out a new voice suddenly. “Who th’ fuck are you?!”

 _Speaking_ of avoiding monsters and my failure to do such…

Quickly I spun around, cursing myself mentally, facing what I was pretty sure was the Sans here and fully prepared to have to either defend myself or come up with a good explanation.

Soon as I saw him, however, my stomach plummeted to my feet.

It wasn’t a normal Sans.

His colors were red instead of the usual blue, he was about the same height as Sans, but with sharp teeth and a fluffier red version of his hoodie. One of his fangs was a gold color and instantly I was tempted to play an edgy rap number to serve as his theme music… _are_ there any rap versions of Megalovania? I wished I had my computer to check…

The sans in front of me scowled, snapping his phalanges in front of my face to reclaim my attention. “Hey lady! I asked you a question!” He demanded, his voice rougher than what I’d imagine the classic Sans to sound like. “Who. The fuck. Are you?”

Suddenly I realized that he was only addressing me and, after quickly looking around, I noticed a certain _lack_ of someone.

The red Sans wasn’t having it. “Do I gotta ask ya again?!” He growled, taking an aggressive step forward.

I squeaked and backed up, holding my clawed hands up in front of myself, thinking another stream of curses as I did. “W-wait!” I stammered, frantically trying to come up with what to say on the spot. He’s a sans, probably wouldn’t, uh, appreciate a _player_ showing up. “I-I’m new!”

Red Sans arched a brow. “…New?” He asked, sounding suspicious.

In the distance behind him I could see Ink poking his head out from behind the trees, giving me a baffled look. I resisted the urge to glare.

I quickly turned my attention back to the Sans, grinning brightly, my tail slowly wagging as I warmed to my story. “Y-yeah! To the Royal Guard! I’m a new recruit, just moved in from the capitol don’cha know!” The fake accent might’ve been pushing it, but I hoped that this Sans wasn’t in New Home often enough to guess my lie, he couldn’t know _everyone_ in the Underground, right? Even with that whole ‘Royal Scientist’ thing.

He frowned, peering up and down my person. “Boss hasn’t told me about any new recruits…” He grumbled, then huffed. “Not like he would anyway. What’s yer name lady?”

I smiled brightly and, ignoring Ink’s frantic hand gesturing, answered him. “Call me Re!” To which Ink promptly facepalmed, no one appreciates good acting.

Red Sans just blinked at me, gaping, before he shook his head almost sadly. “You’re green as grass girl.” He tutted. “Better get to boss and to yer post, he’s not a patient one.”

“Thankyou _so_ much!” I quipped, before giving him a gay little wave and trotting off. Playing innocent and dumb saved me on countless occasions, so falling into the habit came almost naturally.

I almost didn’t hear his muttered “She’s gonna die so quick…” Behind me, but I managed not to react.

Ink vanished soon as the Sans had turned around, so I walked a few feet and turned a corner before a bony hand grabbed the back of my coat and yanked me into the foliage.

Instantly I was met with the face of a slightly exasperated skeleton.

“So….royal guard?” He quipped, crouching overtop of my prone form where I’d fallen, elbows braced on his knees and chin in his hands. “Are you a sentry, or a soldier?”

I scowled and sat up, rubbing my shoulders where the coat cut into them. “It was the first thing I could think of, alright? And I _told_ you these limbs would be useful! I look like a monster, not a human.” I sighed. “At least he bought it.”

Ink glanced away. “I’m not too sure about that…” Then he chuckled. “’Specially not with the act you put on.”

I pouted, it wasn’t my fault that’s my default reaction to stressful situations. “Why’d he look different anyway?” I grumbled.

He smiled, amused. “Haven’t you looked at _any_ of the Undertale AU’s before?” He asked. “Like Under _fell_?”

Underfell? I thought about the word for a moment, it had been so long since I went through that phase, I’d forgotten so much from the fandom.

Underfell… under _fell_ … under…oh shit.

“Oh god I’m in mudertown.” I stammered, probably looking a bit pale as well. Crap. And I just made a target out of myself by acting like a _dumbass_ too. “I’m so fucked.”

“Thaaaaaaat’s right!” Ink chirruped brightly, patting me on top of my head. “I was wondering why you were talking like that. Not good to look so naive around here.”

I huffed and gave him a glare. “Well if _someone_ had told me where we were _before-_ “ Then I paused, shifting to sit up and point at him. “And why the hell are we in Underfell anyway??? I doubt the Chara that dragged me into the game is _here_!”

He shrugged, eyes flickering to a green spiral and yellow star. “We don’t know they aren’t. I don’t remember Chara being able to do that in any _classic_ verse…I figure it’s gotta be an AU, right?” He grinned again. “So we’ll just find the human, see if the Chara remembers you and go from there!”

I sighed, he acted like it’d be so easy, but one experience life taught me…it never was. I stood up and brushed myself free of snow. “Sure…simple as pie.” I grumbled. Ink got up next to me, leaning on his giant brush. I turned back to the path and took in a deep breath.

“Might as well get to it.” I said, attempting to smile and put a brave face on.

Ink arched a brow, then shrugged, indicating he was willing to follow my lead. To which I started off (even though technically _he_ was supposed to be leading _me_.)

About five steps in I had the brilliant idea that _maybe_ walking through the snowy version of murdertown would be a bad idea. So, we spent a bit circumventing it and generally attempting to avoid everyone. Though there were a few close calls… Mostly it was due to Ink’s quick reflexes (and dragging me along with him) that kept us from having any more confrontations. Eventually we managed to get to the other side of town, what I had eloquently named in my head ‘Papyrus Pass’.

Thankfully there was no Papyrus, we were lucky with Sans, we probably wouldn’t be so with his less lazy brother.

Ink stared at the snow for a moment, one hand rubbing his chin as he studied the snow. “Definitely confronted Paps already.” He stated, giving a decisive nod. “Good thing we skipped town, he’s probably at the house by now.” He quipped, while I gave a shudder of relief. Last thing I wanted to do was to answer to the edgelord, who could either be a bastard with a heart of gold or….something worse.

I wasn’t in the mood to deal with the ‘something worse.’

“So, waterfall then?” I asked, being captain obvious. Ink shrugged and gestured for me to lead again and so I turned and headed out, only relaxing once the snow finally made way for mud and reeds and damp. I gave a sigh of relief, which made Ink glance up at me in confusion.

“Why do you hate the snow so much anyway?” He asked, then gestured to the damp cavern walls around us. Waterfall was dark, darker than any of the zones, and mildly chill with damp. The glowing rocks were far more visible, like real stars in an endless black cavern. “It’s not any less cold.” He continued.

I crossed my arms across my stomach, tail curling close to my legs. It _was_ chilly, but that was why I had a coat. And it was getting steadily warmer the further we walked inside. All the flora around us added to the luminescence, barely lighting the area but giving it an ethereal feel. It was comforting to me.

Maybe that was why I was willing to open up, after years of closing myself off. It was safe, in the darkness.

“My parents…” I began, softly. “They died in winter, right before the snows set in. My first days after they left were…empty, cold and white.” I shivered. “I never really cared for it cuz of that.”

“Oh…” He responded, softly. “I’m sorry…” He sounded awkward, and while I couldn’t blame him, those were words I’d heard far, far too often.

“It’s fine.” I cut in, then I tried for a smile. “It was years ago, like…two decades even. I’m over it.” I waved dismissively, other arm still around my middle. “Also I always get sick every winter and I’m a clutz, so ice isn’t on the top of my list either. I just generally all around hate it. No big deal, really!” I laughed, it was probably obvious that it was fake, but I hoped he wasn’t the type to pry.

He wasn’t, thankfully. Though the concerned teal and brown eyelights gave me pause, he quickly smiled and motioned for us to keep going…into ankle deep water. Wonderful. “Anyway…” He offered, changing the subject, which I was grateful for. “We should probably be careful, bit harder to avoid monsters in this part of the underground.”

He had a point so I nodded, though I also frowned. “Not sure how we can do that, I don’t remember that much about the game, but if I recall Waterfall was always a bitch to navigate…”

He snorted, then spun his brush with a flourish. “That’s because you didn’t have the ability to move through liquid.” He quipped brightly, pointing out the water. I got an uneasy feeling… “We can take a shortcut!”

Oh. Shortcuts. Wonderful. “This isn’t going to end well is it?” I muttered, but I took his hand and we both stepped in the water and the world….melted.

It was unsettling to the highest degree, like eels in my guts, and when we ‘reformed’ I took a moment to plop down in the puddle we’d appeared in, hand on my stomach. “C-can we stick to portals?” I asked, voice shaking. “I would really prefer portals. Portals are safe and don’t muck with your insides…”

Ink, of course, wasn’t really listening (probably used to the complaints) as something was distracting him. “Shush!” He huffed, one hand waving in my direction. He grinned and peered through some reeds. “I think we found the human.” He glanced back at me, eyes a star and disk again, pointing.

I scowled but went to look and…sure enough, there was the human. Little fellfrisk was wandering about Waterfall with what looked like a vine wrapped around their shoulders. They looked so small…

It was warmer on that side of Waterfall, muggier too. The light was still very dim with water clogging what cracks were in the roof, red tinted glowing stones giving what was previously comforting an air of the ominous. The water I sat in was cloudy with dirt and grit and debris, that same stuff that covered the plants closer to Frisk…

It took me a moment to realize, it was thicker than the stuff we have back home, so I’d thought it was dirt at first.

But it wasn’t dirt, and it covered the ground all the way up to where Frisk was walking, to where the walls opened up to a prominent entrance; a cavern, one that seemed to stretch out across a vast pit, where a lot of the surrounding heat was coming from.

That debris…was dust.

Then, out of nowhere a yellow spear shot and barely missed Frisk by a hair, and when they (and we) looked up, on top of an overhang of rock there stood a familiar figure in armor.

She was too far away to hear, but from what I could see her armor was a bit more jagged, sharper points and streamlined. Still, I knew this part, even with the ‘edgy’ additions.

But I couldn’t look away from that spear next to Frisk…

Ink sighed and plopped himself down on a dryer area of ground, summoning up a bag of popcorn out of nowhere (he had magic paint so I chose not to question it anymore.) “Looks like we’ll have to wait.” He said, grinning slightly. “Might as well sit back and enjoy the show.”

I nodded, absently, not moving from my spot and still staring as Undyne and Frisk did their back and forth. My hand clutched to my chest, heart pounding behind it. “Hey…” I began. “You…seem like you travel through these sorts of places a lot. Right?”

Ink leaned back. “Mm, I protect them from outside threats.” He answered, glancing over at me, frowning a little. His eyes flicked down to where I was sitting in the water. “Why?”

I swallowed, ears folded back and tail curling tightly around my legs. “Do you ever….get tempted….” Suddenly Undyne jumped down from the rock face and engaged Frisk in a battle, the child’s soul glowing from their chest. “…To step in?” That last coming out slightly high pitched, they were _so young_.

Ink was silent a moment. “…Sometimes.” He answered, softly. Then he shifted and stretched, placing his paintbrush across his legs. “But it’s better not to. This is part of the script anyway, fellfrisk’ll be _fine_.” He then beckoned me with a hand. “Why don’t you get outta that puddle and eat some popcorn? It should be a good fight-“ Then he snickered. “I mean-unless whoever’s ‘behind the wheel’ _sucks_.”

It was as if those words triggered a movie reel in my head. Not just of my time playing Genocide (though the guilt from that was something I was trying hard not to think about _it was just a damn game_ ) but about other things. Like children crying in concrete halls. Ripped from their parent’s arms and collected in warehouses.

And expressionless…

Impassive…

Soldiers.

Have you ever lost yourself for a bit? Ever gotten so caught up in memories and regrets, a roaring in your ears so loud that you lose track of what’s around you? Of anyone near you? Have you ever lost the ability to hear what they’re saying?

Have you ever woken up after doing something so…colossally…stupid…with no memory of how you got there in the first place?

If you have, you’d know exactly what I experienced in that moment, because when I came out of it I was standing in front of Frisk, jagged pain in my side and clawed hand held out towards the former guard.

“Who…are… **you**.” Her voice was hoarse, like she’d broken it through constant screaming or shouting. Frisk stood behind me, trembling, frozen in shock.

I swallowed, but there was no backing out of it then, I didn’t even wanna _look_ in Ink’s direction to see how he felt about how dumb I was being. This was totally how I was going to die-

But no.

When I glanced down, I could see little rivulets’ of red mixing with puddles of water, and I knew, just knew, not all of them came from me.

“Officer Hawke, Squadron 18.” I stated, voice hard, breath too loud in my ears, chest still pounding. “Step away from the child and you won’t get hurt.”

A trembling, soft voice sounded behind me while Felldyne narrowed her eyes. “’Officer…?’” Did this universe have military level humans? It should’ve if it was based off of our modern society…

I clenched my fists, ignoring the pinpricks of my new claws, tried to stop their trembling.

“Officer.” Felldyne repeated, hand gripping another spear. “Are you one of the guard? No…” She gestured towards my chest, and I heard a familiar sound and the slightest tug.

Then, an odd expression came over her face. “You’re…human? But…”

Then she let out a snarl, attention leaving my chest, I didn’t even bother to look at it myself, too focused on my current tunnel vision. “Doesn’t matter!” She rasped, voice still sounding _ruined_ as opposed to how boisterous it was in the original game. “I just have to beat _both_ of you now!”

Her hand trembled, and her breathing became heavy, single eye narrowing to a yellow slit. “Both of you...both your souls…I can’t…”

It was like the air became thick, so much that I could stab a knife through it. I’d joked about Ink being dressed like an anime character, but the atmosphere around Undyne was far more akin to that descriptor. Magic flickered around her form, yellow and crackling, the plants and dust around her swirling in some invisible wind.

I tensed up, _now_ I was going to die. I didn’t even have a weapon! “Kid…Run.” I whispered to Frisk, who shook their head in the negative, stubborn thing. They shifted closer to me instead, while a grumpy voice started arguing with them in whispers.

“Can’t….” Felldyne bore her fangs, little points of yellow magic beginning to form behind her, and I started to think that maybe we should _both_ start running. I took a step back, closer to Frisk, gesturing for them to get on my back.

“Can’t…can’t…can’t…” More spears started for form, and Frisk thankfully wasn’t against climbing on me, showing a surprising amount of trust.

Another spear formed in Felldyne’s hand. “Can’t….”

I tensed.

“Let **him** have you instead!!!”

The battle of the Fallen Hero began.

I settled Frisk onto my back, wrapping their arms around my neck before I booked it a split second before a spear stuck in the dirt right where I’d been.

It wasn’t the only one either, a shower of spears hailed after us, and it took all my training in both the military and reflexes spent from a brief stint in a dance class back when I was just a kid to keep from being hit. My side stabbed me with every breath, Frisk and Flowey shouting warnings from my blind sides, every step taken only digging me deeper into my past.

_You call that a **Dive** cadet? You couldn’t dodge a spear if it was thrown by my dead grandma!_

_Lift up those legs Hawke! I want ‘em touching your chin or it’s scraps for a week!_

_Run little girl, run like yer life depends on it!_

Of course, the fact that my life _did_ happen to depend on it didn’t help matters.

But perhaps I was a bit too deep into my reminiscing, for even as I found myself turning a corner in that dark cavern, hoping perhaps that the reeds would give us cover, Felldyne had managed to catch up (how was she so fast) and I barely managed to dodge a slash from her spear.

“Stand and fight me already!” She snarled, every other word met with another stab and throw of her magic. “Or are all human’s _cowards_?”

Frisk tugged my coat, pointing to one of the spears that hadn’t been dispelled yet, just a few inches to my left.

_Are you a coward Hawke?_

The answer was usually ‘yes’ but…

I ducked under a swipe of Felldyne’s claws, reaching out and grabbing the spear, only to turn and block another downward attack.

_You **scared** girl?_

**Not** when I had a child to protect.

“Only when the advantage is against them.” I quipped back to her, then I smirked ~~this was so fucking stupid of me~~ and gestured.

“Come at me bro.”

I ignored Frisks giggles and Floweys moans while Felldyne screamed in frustration before attacking me with a furious flurry of slashes and spears. Bad enough her frontal blows were quick and relentless, but all sides were equally besieged, as her magic summoned blow after blow of spears that I had to dodge.

And if that wasn’t bad enough…

“You idiot! If you stay in one spot she can bind you in place with her **yellow** magic! Do you _want_ us to die?!” Floweys words reminded me of a core tactic of Undyne’s, and mentally cursing myself I worked hard to get out from the trap she had me in.

But unfortunately, _she’d_ heard him too, and her eye glinted eagerly before my feet were suddenly, uncomfortably, glued in place.

Having me in one place, she stepped back, grinning a sharktoothed grin the entire time. Then she raised her hand, another host of spear after spear appearing in the air behind her. “Let’s see how a human handles _this_.” She crowed, before making a gesture, causing all the spears to fly at me at once.

“Crap…” I grumbled a few seconds before the first few hit. “Hang with me kid.” Setting my shoulders, I glanced up, I was always so _bad_ at this part of the game…

But there was always a pattern.

 **Always**.

The first few hit, but thankfully they were in the front and to my sides, missing Frisk and Flowey. I’d lost track of how many scratches I’d gotten, could feel them only dimly thanks to adrenaline. Fortunately I started to get the pattern down, with the kids warning me if any started to strike at my blindspots. I held my ground, stopping nearly all of them by the time the second flurry finished.

Felldyne scowled.

“Alright, you’re quick, I’ll give you that…” She growled, before slowly grinning once more, her eye narrowing. “But not quick enough.”

“Hey lady, look out!” Those words cut through me just barely in time for me to block another yellow spear from hitting our left, but…

But it wasn’t **yellow** , it was **black**.

“Crap!”

Before I could note the _actual_ direction or even turn, the spear zipped to my front, hitting me square in the chest and knocking the wind right out of me.

I stumbled, the yellow magic letting go of my feet as I fell to my knees, my heart pounding in my ears.

“ _Please wake up_!” “ _Come on you stupid lady, don’t quit now_!” Those words were fading as the world started blurring around the edges, and I heard frightened squeaks and snarls as a set of measured steps came up to where I’d fallen.

“ _Not bad for a human...or maybe a fellow **soldier**._ ” Felldyne’s words faded more and more as she spoke, I barely could catch her last few.

“ _I won’t let him have you, I promise_ …”

Worst. Idea. Ever.

~~~

When next I woke, it was, once again, cold.

Fuck my life.

I opened my eyes to a steel plated ceiling, florescent lights interspersed intermittently across the panels. The air was musty and stank of disinfectant, and when I turned, aches and scratches complaining as I moved on the thin scrap of mattress I’d been laying on, I saw that I was in the middle of a rather Spartan room, a very small one at that. The only furniture inside was the bed I was laying on, a black cinderblock for a nightstand with nothing on it, a desk with a glowing computer monitor showing a blank white screen and a cage next to that.

Within the cage was a familiar, and very grumpy, sentient plant.

Flowey glared at me soon as he realized I was awake, fierce frown on his petaled face. “I hope you’re proud of yourself lady.” He growled.

I blinked slowly, glancing up at the walls, bare as the ceiling sans what looked to be a calendar next to the computer, showing a really worn out, scratched up picture of…was…was that an anime catgirl? What the hell.

“Not the proudest I’ve ever felt.” I commented, because the flower had asked a question and mama hadn’t raised me to be impolite. I groaned and tried to stand up, only to note a certain little _addition_ to my person.

A chain around my ankle, fixed to the bed which was, take a wild guess, bolted to the floor.

I frowned, still groggy. “Did I just walk into the plot of SAW or something?” I grumbled, to which Flowey sighed.

“No, dumbass, not that I know what that _is_.” He moaned, then he bashed his leaves against the wires of his cage, shaking it. “Wake up! Frisk is still out there, _alone_ might I add! You’re stupid antics got us captured!”

My brows furrowed, and I lifted my ankle up to test the manacle attached to it. Solid, but rusty. Hmmm. “That’s no good.” I replied brilliantly, though guilt stabbed me in the chest. I’d fucked up. I’d _royally_ fucked up. I should’ve listened to Ink, now I had to fix this mess. Ug. “Hey, can you give me a thorn?”

In response Flowey screeched, making my ears ache (though I suppose that was his intention). “Take this _seriously_ already!!! You got us stuck in Alphy’s lab and _Frisk is out_ there and without me they’re going to **die** and die **horribly** and you’re just…sitting there…asking me for a **_thorn_**?!?!?!”

Honestly, I could understand his freaking out, I’d be freaking out too but…I was too tired. “Yup.” I stated, before handing out a hand to him. “Can’t fix my fuckup without getting unchained first, and, like, the science lizard’ll come back soon to gloat, right?” Frisk was probably in Hotland by now ~~why didn’t Felldyne kill them? Why did she take us here instead? What _happened_? ~~ “Should probably work on getting out before then.”

Flowey blinked, staring blankly at me before a thorny vine slipped out from behind him to his foreleaves. “Who _are_ you anyway?” He grouched, before flinching as he tore off the tip of one of his thorns and tossed it close to me.

“An idiot.” I quipped, reaching out just as far as I could go, fingers just brushing it before I managed to grab it, seemed the room was wide enough that I couldn’t actually reach the desk the computer was on. Fancy that. I sat back on the bed and proceeded to try and work. “I’m…sorry for getting involved.” I apologized. The thorn was small enough for the large lock, but what about after this? There was a door to the left, but it looked electronic, and I was hardly a hacker. “I shouldn’t’ve, but…” I sighed. “I hate seeing kids hurt.”

“Where did you come from anyway?” Flowey griped, before frowning at his broken thorn, cringing. “You look human but with, like…dumb fuzzy parts. They don’t look right on you-and I’ve never seen you here before. Did you fall after Frisk?” He glanced up at me, narrowing his eyes before selecting another thorn on his vine and examining his own lock.

I hesitated, not sure how to respond. ‘oh, actually I’m part of the race that _created_ this world’ wasn’t likely to fly with him. Still, I needed to tell him _something._ “I’m not really from here…” I mentioned, cursing at a grinding feeling against the thorn in my fingers. “I didn’t exactly _fall_ either…a friend brought me here.” I paused at that, could Ink even be considered a friend? I just met him today.

Still, it was a better explanation than anything else I could come up with.

“No kidding.” Flowly grumbled, before his own thorn broke in the cage and he growled, giving another screech before banging his head against the cage. “Why. Won’t. This. Stupid. Thing. Open?!”

I was about to offer my sympathies as my own thorn broke when suddenly something DID open.

That something being the door.

We both gaped at the entrance, like kids with our hands in the cookie jar before the light shifted and we were faced with-not a mad scientist or a metal abomination or EVEN an amalgamyte, but with Ink.

Ink, who was smirking like a cat with a canary, giant paintbrush at his side, his whole aura reeking of ‘smug’.

Flowey turned to me. “This your friend?” He asked, tone dry.

“Yup.” I answered, because this was my life now.

Ink laughed and strode into the room, laying his paintbrush on his shoulder. “You would not BELIEVE the lax security of this place!” He gloated, before he kneeled next to me, taking out a smaller brush and slashing it at the chain around my ankle, neatly cutting it and breaking it off. “You really do know how to make things interesting, don’t you?” He asked, poking my nose. He smirked, eyes pink and orange. “I’ve never had to do a break-in before!” Then he blinked and they turned orange and brown, and he frowned. “But seriously, rule number one of traveling the multiverse; _don’t break the script_!” He poked me in the chest at every word, sharp phalange almost bruising.

“Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay!” I grumbled, rubbing where he’d poked. “I’m sorry, I won’t interfere next time.” I promised, but his attention was already on Flowey.

He rubbed his chin. “Well…this is a pickle. I dunno if this is supposed to happen or not…”

I sighed, getting up to point at the cage. “Just free him? It was my dumb meddling that caused him to be captured in the first place.” Then I gave him a pleading expression, hoping that maybe he’ll take pity on me-or fall for my (lacking) feminine whiles or…or something. ~~Did skeletons even go for feminine whiles~~?

Ink stared at me for a moment, brow ridge arched, then he smirked again, eyes turning pink and brown. “Alright, I can’t say no to a face like that.” I blushed in confusion, it had actually _worked_? “And anyway you’ve already mucked things up in this ‘verse as it is, what more harm could _I_ do?” I blushed harder, for a different reason this time.

Another slash and Flowey was free, the cage slowly opening on his disgusted and incredulous face.

“….Who even _are_ you people…?”

As we were reverse mission impossible-ing our way out from the belly of Alphy’s Lab, I asked Flowey how on earth we ended up here considering I had oh so eloquently passed out earlier.  

“Well…” He crooned in my ear, false sweetness and light. “While _you_ were napping the day away _I_ had to distract Undyne so that Frisk could get away!” His voice turned into a rather loud growl, prompting Ink to glare at him and motion for him to quiet down-apparently Amalgamytes counted as guards or…something. I never saw much about Alphy’s lab in Underfell.

Everything was buried in shadows, with pipes and chains and water (how) dripping everywhere. The air was filled with a muggy heat-which made more sense than the water, and when I accidentally brushed my hand on one of the pipes I had to quickly yank it back as it was burning hot to the touch.

“That doesn’t explain how we ended up in the lab.” I gritted out, blowing on my hand in an attempt to ease the pain.

Flowey glared at me from his place on my shoulder. “Alphys and Undyne are _dating_.” He growled, like I should know this already and…to be fair I probably should. “She asked Alphys not to give your soul to Asgore while she went after Frisk.” He grumbled and glanced away. “Alphys agreed so long as she could have me again…”

A spike of guilt shot into my chest, and I flinched, biting my lip. My fault again, of course. “I-“ I pause then, nothing I could say would make up for it. It’d just be words.

And sometimes words meant **shit**.

We were almost out of the labs and on to the, uh, ‘outside’ when Ink held out a hand, halting me. “Wait…d’you hear that?” He whispered, green eyelight glowing in the darkened lab.

Then, from around a corner rolled another familiar face…or…box…familiar and not, he had four arms instead of the usual two, and he was cracked.

“Crap, it’s Mettaton.” Flowey grumbled, and I felt his vines sliding along my back, ready to lash out for a fight.

But I really didn’t want to fight, not again, not remembering what I did.

“Oh no…oh no, no, no I can’t have you escaping I really can’t.” His metallic voice was distressed, his upper arms cradling along his boxy shell, colors flickered in his screen wildly. He rocked from side to side, clearly torn.

“He’s not blockin’ the exit.” Ink muttered, low enough that the robot couldn’t hear, his grip tightening on his brush.

“You can’t fight him! He’s indestructible!” Flowey whispered back harshly.

“I’m so so sorry darlings, but Alphys will roast me over a fire if I let her experiments escape the lab!” Mettaton moaned, his lower right arm pointing at us.

“Only in this form…” Ink quipped back, grinning again.

And I was just about done with all of it.

“Not t’day Satan!” I shouted, before picking the anime skeleton _up_ and wrapping him around my back. I ignored his protests and gave him just enough time to grasp around my shoulders before I booked it, barely managing to dart around the missile Mettaton shot at us and heading straight for the exit.

I was fast, had to be, you don’t get through basic without learning to be fast with weight on your back.

And Flowey and Ink were _light_.

“Oh no, no you get back here!” The robotic victim kept shooting at us, and I had to keep up a zig zag pattern in order to keep from getting blasted. He seemed to note that the exit was where we were headed, so he rolled his unhappy self in front of us and kept firing.

And I kept dodging.

“D’you think this is gonna work any better than the last time you did this?” Ink shouted in my ear, lousy back seat drivers.

“Do something before we get blasted!!!” Flowey wasn’t much better of course, but then again, it was Flowey.

Figures I’d get stuck with two of the sassiest of sass masters on my back. Such is life.

“ _Shut up or get off_.” I snarled, eyes quickly picking out a few places, just gotta…focus...

There!

I ducked under the trajectory of another missal, planted one foot firmly on a pipe, _leapt_ off that ~~whilst praying it wasn’t too damp to slip on~~ reached up to grasp a, thankfully, reasonable warm chain and _swung_ myself off one of the pipes around Mettaton and right into the tunnel that led to the exit.

“Get back here!!!” The robot’s voice cracked as I darted from a crouch to my feet, running as fast as I possibly could through the tunnels that Ink assured me would lead to the upper levels of Hotland.

Surprisingly, Mettaton didn’t follow us. I wasn’t quite sure why, but maybe it had to do with his not being able to leave the lab at that moment…

Even so, I kept running until there was light up ahead, the brutal heat of Hotland getting closer and closer the brighter the light got.

“Ah…could you put me down now?” Ink asked, and I nearly jumped. He was so light I barely noticed his weight-or Flowey’s for that matter but Flowey was a _plant_.

“Sorry! I forgot you were there-you’re so small…” I stammered, letting the skel down while Flowey snorted on my shoulder.

Ink gave a strained grin, orange eyelight glowing. “No…no…its fine…”

“She called you small, pfffffft-not even that brutal _trashbag’s_ as short as you-hahahah!!!” Flowey’s mocking set off my better instincts, so I jerked quickly to the right as a blot of…paint? Landed right on the flower’s face.

Ink’s eyelights were red. “ **Don’t call me short**.” He threatened. I swallowed. Flowey probably would’ve pissed himself if he still had those bodily functions. We both nodded.

Then an instant later he was all smiles again, pointing towards the exit. “Anyway, I think someone’s out there waiting for ya Flowey. Sorry again for the mess.”

The two of us glanced over and-sure enough-there was little fellFrisk, looking like they were determinedly psyching themselves up to…to go into the labs to try and save Flowey. Welp.

We walked up to them, giving them a shock, but they were more than happy to have their flower friend back on their shoulder and safe.

* _You thank the Officer and strange skeleton for saving your friend._

I blinked for a moment-surprised at the sudden-uh-text when Flowey baps them gently on the head with a leaf. “Don’t _thank_ her idiot, she’s the reason we got into this mess in the first place!”

* _You remind Flowey that you would’ve probably died to Undyne several times if she hadn’t stepped in._

Flowey pursed his…lips? Pistils? Biology is a lie and nothing makes sense anymore, a moment. “…Fine. Guess you’re right there.” He grumbled.

“Aaaaaand on that note.” Ink chimed in brightly, stepping up to Frisk. “We should probably do what we came here to do in the first place.” He bent over (at least _Frisk_ was shorter than him) and grinned at the child. “Could you ask your Chara if they recognize this nice lady for us?”

Flowey gaped. “ _That’s_ what this was all about?! You wanting to talk to **Chara**????”

I gave a nervous grin, probably blushing at that moment while I was at it. “Ah…yes? I kinda need to talk to them.”

Flowey scoffed, barring his…petal teeth. I don’t even know anymore. “Well-you’re about a _hundred_ years too late, Chara’s been dead for-!”

Frisk stopped him.

* _You tell the lady that Chara doesn’t know who she is, but that they would be more than happy to help in any other way for saving Flowey._

“W-what…?” Flowey stammered, giving Frisk a wide eye’d-almost betrayed look.

I felt my chest start to ache, let’s just add breaking up a friendship to my list of sins while we’re at it.

“Huh, well, I guess that makes sense.” Ink mused, hand on his chin and not paying any attention to the drama playing out before us. “This Chara is sort of nicer than the others. Doesn’t make sense that they’d be the one to kidnap you.” He snapped his phalanges. “Ah well! Let’s try another one. Thanks for the help!”

And then he grabbed my hand.

“W-wait!” I stammered, before turning back to the two-two _children_ going through all this hell-harder even than the actual _game_ ~~it was a game, just a game it was only supposed to be a _game_~~ and gave them my best and most confident smile. “Just…remember Frisk. No matter what happens, you can do anything if you stay Determined! Don’t give up!”

Frisk blinked, then smiled at me.

* _You tell the lady thank you for her words of encouragement, but you already know that._

* _You tell her you’ve always known that._

* _You’ve known it for the last 500 runs after all._

Ink pulled me through the portal, the last thing I saw was their smiling face before it was blocked by colors and light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So rood Ink, let a lady finish a conversation.


	4. Blue be nimble, Blue be quick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, good news! I come bearing a very long arse chapter as a gift!
> 
> Bad news, that still doesn't excuse how long it took to get out. What can I say kids? ADHD is a bitch. So's life for that matter! But I think I got a writing strategy down that'll let me pull out chapters faster (unless life kicks my ass again, I can't account for that.) 
> 
> No one here belongs to me other than Re and this weird ass story. Proper sources at the end.

The next place we ended up seemed to be nothing more than a broad grassy field, which I knew first hand because I landed face first into it.

“You really need to work on those landings.” Came the peanut gallery, right before he offered his hand for me to take. I promptly responded by glaring at his gremlin face as I took said hand and brushed the grass and dirt from my new clothes.

“Yeah, ‘cause I totally land right when the guy draggin’ me around doesn’t give me any warning before pulling me into a portal.” I growled, ears folding back on my head and gods all damn that was a weird feeling. I was starting to wonder myself why I’d asked for the fuzzy bits.

As I ignored Ink’s snickering I observed our surroundings and debated on what sort of world we’d landed in this time. It was about as much of a field as one would expect mid-spring, with gentle cool breezes brushing against my cheeks, the grass green and long, reaching to my thighs. In the distance over rolling hills I could see what looked like buildings at the base of a very large mountain.

A rather familiar mountain…

“Where are we?” I asked.

Ink just managed to stop laughing to himself (prick) long enough to answer me when he was interrupted by a distant sound steadily getting louder. “…Th’ heck-“

“iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII _IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII **IIIINK!** ”_

Boom.

Right in the chest.

The small creature that had projectiled himself into Ink’s his chest was short-shorter than Ink _which was impressive_ , round and blue. Very blue. In fact one would even go so far as to state he resembled a sort of fruit, a _berry_ even.

“Ink, Ink, Ink, Ink INK WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Said berry…said, greeting Ink with much enthusiasm from his place atop his chest, his bricktackling having landed them both onto the ground. I did the prudent thing and chose to stay silent and out of the way whilst secretly memorizing everything going on for the purpose of blackmail.

“I’ve been where I’ve always been, Blue. ~~Please get off~~.” Ink said to the berry, trying to not so subtly push him off of his chest.

“You’ve been _missing_ is what you’ve been! It’s been months!” Berry pouted at him, somehow managing to convey deep parental disappointment despite being the size of a yorkshire terrier. “I’ve been really worried!”

Ink’s eyes flashed to a dark brown and purple before he glanced away. “Blue, you know I’ve got a job to do.” He said quietly, looking pained.

“And that’s ALL you do lately! What about-“ Then the tiny sans paused, doing a doubletake up to me before glancing between us. “Who’s this?” He asked, an amused smile growing on his face.

“Someone currently wondering what happened to ‘don’t mess with the script.’” I drawled, unable to help myself.

Ink glared at me, before huffing. “Blue, this is Re, I’m helping her find her way back home. Re-I met Blue when I first started wandering the multiverse myself-I hadn’t known to follow that rule yet.” He ran a hand over his face before nudging Blue again. “Blue, can you go get Chara for me? We have a question to ask them.”

Blue had been studying me top to bottom, and if he was confused about animal parts on a human he didn’t seem too inclined to comment, before turning to back to Ink. “Why do you want Chara?” He then ~~finally~~ got off Ink, dusting his armor off and holding out a hand to me. “Hi Re! I’m glad you finally got Ink out of his house!” He quipped.

Amused, I took the hand and was promptly shaken to bits, Ink rolling his eyes behind him. “I get out plenty.” He grumbled.

Just then the sound of steps coming from behind me caused Blue to pause, before another bright sunshine grin split his face. “Papy!”

I turned around and spotted a tall skeleton. Where his brother was short and stocky he was long and, uh, skeletal, wearing a shade of orange best likened to a carrot of all the damn things. He paused a few steps away from us, giving Ink a side eye’d glance before turning a weary sigh upon his brightly grinning brother.

“Blue, please tell me this isn’t what I think it means.” He grumbled, voice raspy.

Blue’s face fell for a moment in confusion. “Wha-? Oh! No, I’m not going anywhere!” He quipped, grinning again, before that grin vanished as he turned to Ink. “…I’m not, right?”

Ink shook his skull, slight smirk on his face. “No…no, I’m just here looking for information.” He said, then he grinned up at the Skel Carrot, grin turning strained. “I promise I’m not dragging Blue off to stars know where. This time.”

Said carrot gave him a narrow socketed glare, as if he barely believed him, before letting out a snort. “Better not be.” He grumbled, before turning to me (and ignoring Blue’s protest of being able to handle himself.) “Who’s this?”

Ink opened his mouth to answer, but I suddenly had a recollection of my time in the fandom, most specifically about Underswap and how most of the time _Papyrus knew about players_ so I quickly interrupted him. “No one of consequence really! I got lost so Ink’s helping me find my way back home, that’s all.” I said, plastering on a big grin that I hope didn’t come off as too fake but probably was.

“Right! Which is why you want to talk to Chara-wait, why do you wanna talk to Chara?” Blue asked, looking confusedly at me. Ink coughed, prompting me to give him a panicked glare clearly saying ‘ _help me with this_.’

“Yes Re, why _do_ we want to talk to Chara?” He asked, giving me what was quickly turning out to be his ‘I’m going to be a shit today’ grin.

My glare promptly turned into less of a plea for help and more of a promise to deck him soon as I got the chance.

We held the glare for a beat before he took pity on me and turned back to Papyrus. “Actually, it’s because a Chara not from her AU kidnapped her, and what she could tell me gave me no clues as to which Chara it was, so we’re going to different AUs to find out.” He drawled, casually, like he spread lies like this everyday (he probably did.)

Blue arched a brow, but Papyrus sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nosehole. “Fine then, they’re back at the house. You can come ask them whatever it is.”

Blue instantly perked up, eyelights turning into stars. “Oo! You both can stay for dinner! I’m working on a new recipe and you’ve just gotta try it!” He then paused, giving Ink a frown. “You…are staying…right…?”

To which I was then greeted with the most amusing sight, with Ink visibly sweating as Blue gave him the best and most obviously playacted puppydog eyes I’d ever seen. I had to cup both hands over my mouth to keep from laughing, and even then I managed to let loose a few snickers.

Papyrus side eye’d me, small corner of his mouth curling up, clearly _he_ knew what was happening too.

“Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaase Ink?” Blue asked, eyelights big and blue and somehow sparkling. Ink’s own eyelights narrowed to light cyan pinpricks, rainbow sweat falling down his skull as he shrank away from his friend. “It’s been _so long_ since you last visited. Can’t you stay…?”

Clearly Ink was mentally struggling, and I was impressed he managed to hold out for so long, but eventually the inevitable occurred and he visibly slumped, hand lifting to pinch at the bridge of his nosehole, clearly in the throes of a headache. “Alright, alright.” He grumbled, sigh in his voice. “We’ll stay.”

A snort escaped my efforts as Blue broke out into a cheer, causing Ink to glare in my direction again. I gave him a sheepish grin and turned back to Papyrus, hopefully I wouldn’t catch karma for that.

And to the swap bro’s house we went…

The house was about average in size to what one would expect in an idyllic game where people can actually afford to buy houses. There was even a separate dining room from the kitchen, and we all sat at the table enjoying Blue’s fairly decent dinner of tacos, rice and beans, all except Chara of course, who’d gone out right before we came back. Papyrus and Blue promised they’d be back soon for dinner however, so we wouldn’t be there for much longer, hopefully.

Papyrus then sat back and pulled out a rather familiar little white box, causing Blue to give him a not-so-discreet glare, but caught my attention as well.

“Soooooooo Papyrus…….” I started, leaning towards him.

“We usually call him Stretch.” Ink interrupted, messing with his food.

Papyrus, or rather, Stretch, smirked. “The cute lady can call me whatever she wants.” He quipped, making me blush for a moment.

“Papy stop flirting with every woman we meet.” Blue grumbled. “NOT THAT YOU ARE NOT LOVELY MISS RE, BUT PAPY IS A BIT OF A FLIRT.” The sudden rise in volume caused my ears to fold tight to my head, but the other two skels ignored it.

“…Anyway.” I said, turning back to Stretch. “I was wondering if by chance you could spare one of those cigs you got?” I even batted my eyes and tried my own puppydog face, though from the arched brow (again, how???) he gave me I was pretty sure I fell short of Blue’s impression.

I ignored Ink’s muttered ‘seriously…?’ in the background.

“I dunno sweetness.” Stretch said, ‘stretching’ out in his chair and fiddling with the pack. “Monster cigs pack a punch…might even kill ya.”

I just grinned even brighter, giving a little tail wag for effect. “Why else do you think I’m asking?”

Sudden silence.

“SERIOUSLY?!” Said the voices of killjoys Ink and Blue, both of them giving me glares of exasperation.

“I’m joking, I’m joking!” I said. Honestly. Maybe.

“Er…I sure hope you’re jokin’…” Cue Stretch, cutting in to break the awkward moment. “Anyway, here. Don’t smoke it all at once kid.” He then handed me a cig, like a happy child I squealed and curled back into my seat, maybe wagging my tail for real, maybe, just _maybe_ , humming a happy tune.

“Papyrus you are the worst.” Blue huffed, still giving me a parental glare before turning it onto his brother. I did my best not to turn to what felt like the heat of a thousand suns coming to me via Ink.

Stretch just laughed and relaxed back in his chair again. “Stick around, might have some booze stashed away for later.” He suggested, giving me a wink. I gave him a happy grin and starry eyes.

I…may have a few problems…

A loud THUNK drew my attention back to Ink, who’d faceplanted hard into the table, just barely missing his plate. “I’m running with a delinquent.” He grumbled.

I scowled. “Oh, like you’ve never done this shit.” I huffed, maybe I’d just stick around Stretch instead- _he_ at least seemed like he knew how to relax.

Ink sat back up and arched a brow at me, eyes shifting to light blue. “Oh, I do. Just not for the reasons you seem to.”

A lead weight settled into my gut, those eyes of his seeming to pierce through me. “And how do you figure that?” I asked, hopefully nonchalantly.

He sighed and turned back to his food, thankfully no longer looking at me. “You’re not exactly hard to read.”

“What’s that mean-“ I started, but as luck would have it, Chara chose that very moment to come into the dining room.

“WHY CHARA WHAT PERFECT TIMING SO NICE TO SEE YOU MADE IT!” Blue’s obnoxiously cheerful and LOUD voice managed to push the uncomfortable conversation out of my mind, and I turned to see what this version of Chara looked like from this side of the screen.

Their coloration was in line with their digital version, though they looked a bit scruffier and taller than the game would suggest, not like Fellfrisk who’d been really small and like a child. Chara instead looked more like a pre-teen who’d seen too much and saved the underground for kicks. They give a smile and wave to Blue before arching a brow at Ink and me.

“Did I miss something?” They asked, surprising me for a moment-my mind going back to that last conversation with Fellfrisk.

Stretch just shrugged. “Not at all. Pull up a chair, Bro’s trying a new recipe.” He drawled, subtly turning the atmosphere into a less awkward one.

Chara grinned and went to do just as suggested. “Sweet.” They settled into the place Blue’d made up for them, while I tried to figure out why _this_ human child spoke so differently from the one in the other ‘verse…come to think of it, Fellfrisk hadn’t spoken like that when I was fighting Felldyne…had they…? The screen, the text….

“…Why…?” I couldn’t help but ask aloud, softly however, hopefully too soft for anyone to hear.

Unfortunately I misjudged, because Chara instantly turned to me, tilting their head in confusion. “Hmm?” They asked.

I quickly turned away. “Nevermind.” Back to the food I went.

A moment, then Chara decided to address the elephant. “So, who’s this chick?” They asked, gesturing to me.

“Apparently Ink’s new ‘tagalong.’” Stretched quipped.

“Speaking of which.” Ink interrupted, before Stretch could get smart. “Do you recognize her?”

A feeling of being scrutinized made my skin crawl, but I tried hard not to bring any attention to it. I was fairly sure this wasn’t the Chara that had pulled me in, else why would they ask about me?

“No.” They answered eventually. “Should I?”

“Apparently one of your alternates pulled her out of her AU, so we’re trying to find them.” Ink oh so helpfully explained, still keeping up that pretense that I came from an AU.

“Yeah, about that.” I started, turning to Ink. “Do you really think I was kidnapped by a ‘living’ Chara? Wouldn’t that make things harder?” _Could_ a living Chara even go through the code? It was always the fallen child that spoke directly to the player…

“…’Living’…?” Chara asked quietly, narrowing their eyes at me.

“Most of your alts are in Frisks’ place.” Blue explained quietly to them.

“Process of elimination luv.” Ink quipped, shifting back in his chair. “There’re far less living Charas than there are dead ones.”

“Wouldn’t being a ghost make it harder to exist as an Outcode?” Blue asked.

“ _Are_ there any outcode Chara to begin with?” Stretch asked as well, it was kinda weird listening to them talk about multiversal intricacies like it was nothing. Maybe Blue’s habit of ‘going places’ gave them a lax attitude towards it.

“Outcodes aren’t exactly common.” Ink began, leaning forward and clearly easing into the subject. “And the majority of them tend to be skeletons ~~for some reason~~ , but the human isn’t exactly exempt from the status-“ He held up a phalange. “Core Frisk for example.”

The three skels when on that train for a bit, and I quickly became lost and gained a headache trying to follow along. From Chara’s grimace, they were in the same boat, and so they turned and leaned towards me with a scowl on their face. “They’re nerding out again…” They grumbled.

I gave a small apologetic grin, sometimes adults, especially science inclined adults, did that. “Are they _both_ scientists in this ‘verse?” I asked, noting that Blue had just as much input as Stretch.

Chara shrugged. “Sans used to help the scientists before the accident that killed River-their other parent and former royal scientist. Then Paps assisted Undyne back when she took over the job…I dunno what Ink’s deal is though.” We both glanced at said skeleton, who was still rattling off random multi-universal facts.

I hummed. “Guess all that AU hopping teaches you via osmosis.”

Blue’s voice then cut through our attention. “Maybe you should narrow your focus to outcodes then? I can’t imagine anyone having access to another AU otherwise.” He suggested, causing Ink to frown, looking like he was seriously considering it.

Except-it _wasn’t_ an AU that they grabbed me from…

“Uh-“ I interrupted, struggling to find a way to explain this without giving the lie away (and causing Bad Time Mode to activate.) “It wasn’t a _normal_ kidnapping persay…”

All the people in the room slowly turned to look at me, and I was instantly filled with regret.

***You feel your sins crawling on your back…**

“What do you mean…?” Stretch asked slowly, narrowing his sockets.

I swallowed, and tried hard not to look suspicious. “Well…they didn’t exactly ‘exist’ in a physical sense…” There, that sounded reasonable. Right?

Blue frowned, furrowing his brows. “Then how did they grab you?”

I pursed my lips and looked away, pointedly ignoring the exasperated look Ink was currently giving me. “By…uh…” I stumbled through the words, desperately trying to think of what to say that wouldn’t tip them off. “Pulling me through a screen?”

Ink ran a hand over his face, though the brothers and Chara seemed to have bought it.

“…What.” Well, the brothers at least, not Chara.

“Hold on a minute, they grabbed you through a screen, and that’s how they pulled you out of your AU?” Stretch looked confused of course, but at least he wasn’t coming to the dreaded conclusion (I hoped.)

“…Yes?” Gods how I hoped.

Stretch turned to Ink, who thankfully put on a poker face of mild interest. “Are we sure it isn’t some new outcode?” He asked, and the relief was almost enough to make me sag.

“I agree with Papy, we haven’t seen anyone use portals like that yet.” Blue chimed in, looking at Ink as well…and now it was his turn to spin something half honest and good enough of a lie that everyone would buy it.

Irritatingly enough he didn’t even break into a sweat. “Not…necisarrily.” He began, resting his chin in his hand and taking on a contemplative look. “There are a few tech centric humans out there, and I travel through ink and other liquids, it could very well be that one of them learned how to use screens as portals.”

“There’s something else too.” Stretch hummed, his brows furrowing. “Why _would_ a Chara even take you from your AU to begin with?”

Slowly, they all turned back toward me.

I swallowed again, ears folding down. Shit. Gotta come up with another believable story or something… “Umm…” I stammered. “I…I dunno-I don’t _remember_ doing anything to piss a Chara off…”

“What’s your AU even like?” Blue asked, giving me a reassuring grin. “Do you have a Chara over there?”

“Doesn’t look like your AU’s very kosher, considering those fuzzy bits on you.” Stretch added, looking me up and down.

“Oh…these?” I laughed more than a little nervously. “They’re fake. Ink made them.”

A pause.

“…Why…?” Chara, ever on point with commentary, asked.

“Apparently as a poorly thought out disguise.” Ink drawled, arching a brow at me.

I tried not to glare.

Stretch gave Ink a curious look but shrugged it off. “So, normal human? What’s your soul like?” He asked.

Blue grinned and nearly hopped in his seat. “Oo! I wanna see too!” He chirped, leaning closer towards me.

“Uhhh…” I managed, leaning _away_ though that didn’t deter them in the slightest.

Ink sighed. “It’s up to you…” He suggested, not that it’d give anything away considering Felldyne’s previous reaction.

Right…?

Slowly I nodded, letting Stretch hold up his hand (as everyone leaned in to get a better look, Chara pretending they weren’t interested at ALL despite joining in.) and ACT: CHECK’ed my stats.

Out in front of my chest glowed a very, very small heart, about a third of the size of a regular soul, glowing green with a multitude of cracks running through it. It was honestly a wonder it held together at all.

I stared down at it, hypnotized by the glow myself.

“That…is not a healthy soul.” Stretch said, voice strained, and I couldn’t exactly blame him.

“It’s so tiny!!!” Blue exclaimed, almost reaching out to touch it before pausing, thinking better to himself.

“So, what, if you sneeze it’ll break?” Chara drawled, turning away to focus on something supposedly more interesting.

“HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!” Said Blue again, making me flinch at his raised voice. It wasn’t that bad…was it? Well, the color could barely be seen through the cracks but STILL.

Ink let out a quiet huff, rolling his eyelights. “Now _you_ know.” He mumbled, though why he’d make such a comment I couldn’t even begin to imagine.

Blue was still fretting, giving me the most worried of worried looks. “What _happened_ to make it like this? It’s like you’ve been through hell!” 

For a moment I wasn’t seeing them, their concerned voices replaced by the hail of metal rain at the walls of the unconcerned, the calloused ignorant. My feet drowning in a sea of red, the same that stained my hands, the same that choked me and threatened to _break_ every part that I considered to be my identity…

Then it all came back, and I wasn’t drowning anymore.

“…You could say that…” I murmured.

Another awkward silence…

“Alright, that’s enough.” Ink’s voice cut through and broke the spell as he made to stand up from the table, drawing the attention back to him. “The point is Chara doesn’t know her, so it’s about time we moved on.”

“Oh, right.” Stretch shook himself, as if he’d been caught in a spell as well before he grinned gently at me. “Better take good care of yourself sweetness.” He said. “A soul like that is fragile-even moreso than Sans’s.” He gave his brother a side eye’d smirk, causing the tiny Sans to puff up in indignation.

“HEY! I’VE BEEN VERY DILIGENT IN MY TRAINING I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW! THE GREAT ANDA MAGNIFICENT SANS WILL NOT BE DETERRED BY A BIRTH DEFECT!” For once his yelling was a relief, and I couldn’t help but giggle at the comedic antics between the two.

Stretch’s smirk softened a little. “I know bro, but I still worry.”

In answer Blue stood up on _top_ of his chair, the better to dramatically point to the sky. “WELL WORRY NOT, BECAUSE I WILL ACCOMPLISH MY DREAM OF JOINING THE ROYAL GUARD AND I AM CERTAIN RE WILL ACCOMPLISH HER’S  TOO…whatever that is.” He gave me a sheepish smile of his own, as if just realizing that I was still there.

I smiled back, though it was probably a bit subdued, the memories still in the back of my mind. “…Sure. Thanks.”

“That doesn’t sound convincing.” Stretch suddenly appeared behind me, making me squeak with his drawl.

“What is it anyway?” Chara asked, seemingly _very interested_ despite acting bored for most of the conversation. They appeared behind my other side, making me squeak again.

I turned to them and flailed, feeling horribly crowded. “It’s not important! I gave it up a _long_ time ago really so! We should head out!” I turned back to find Ink getting ready and grinning at me amusedly, as if he was highly entertained. “It was a lovely dinner and I’m sure we’ll come again but Ink probably has a bunch of other things he has to do, right?” I rambled.

He snorted and smirked, leaning on the back of a chair he was standing behind, giving the impression of having all the time in the world. “I do…” He drawled, unconvincing as fuck of course. “But I don’t really mind helping you. It’s…sort of fun.”

I blushed, not quite sure how to take that statement. “…Really…?”

He raised his brows and grinned, definitely amused. “Most fun I’ve had in years!” He quipped, before his grin turned sheepish. “You really have _no_ idea how dull it’s been lately…”

“You could always come to see me Ink…” Blue chimed in, sounding slightly hurt and frowning at his friend.

Ink grimaced, before the expression smoothed and he turned a smile at the blueberry. “I know, I just didn’t want to risk running into Dreamy.”

Wait, Dreamy?

Blue’s expression became pained. “…What even happened between you two?” He asked softly, and suddenly the conversation felt VERY private, and I turned away, trying hard not to listen.

Ink was silent a long moment. “…We had a difference of opinion.” He finally said, but then suddenly his voice rose back to normal volume. “Anyway, c’mon Re. Let’s head out.” He walked over towards me and place a hand on my arm, giving it a little tug, the message was certainly clear, we _both_ needed to get out of this conversation. “Hey, maybe if we’re lucky you can meet Error!” He laughed.

“Uh…”

Chara’s voice turned our attention back to them at their seat, a seat that had suddenly become wrapped tightly in a skein of what looked like blue, slightly glowing strings.

Ink tensed beside me.

“Help…?” Chara said, right before they were pulled out of the house, through the wall and into the yard.

A glitched voice sounded in the distance, and Ink audibly _growled_ beside me. “ _Speak of the devil_.”

We all ran out to the front lawn of the swap bro’s house, and were met with honestly what I’d consider to be either a grandmother’s fantasy or nightmare. Blue strings hung _everywhere_ , looping through the trees in a tangled net. I paused at the barrier along with Blue and Stretch, Ink grumbling and pulling out a small paintbrush for some reason.

Above us, hanging right in the thick of said net looking completely at ease swung a skeleton with black bones, uneven eyes and the most smug looking smirk I’d ever seen. He wasn’t paying us much mind as he was too busy gloating over Chara, but soon as we got close enough he turned-

And _glared_ right at Ink.

“Why is it…” He growled, his voice holding a weird glitched overtone. “That everywhere I go _you_ show up?”

Ink rolled his eyelights before taking a step forward and proceeding to use paint to start cutting his way through the strings. “Let the human go Error.” He demanded, though it was more of an exasperated sigh.

Chara hung a ways away from the glitchy skel, in a position that did not look comfortable in the slightest. They wiggled, but only slightly, and looked more pissed than afraid.

The Skeleton, Error, scowled, his phalanges tightening on the strings holding him up. “Has anyone ever told you your stalkin’s creepy?” He snarled.

Meanwhile I started to walk forward myself, thinking that with him distracted I could get at Chara-but Stretch firmly grasped at my arm, shaking his head. “Sweetness, it’ll be better if you sit this one out.” He said quietly. “Especially with _your_ soul.”

I frowned, wanting to disagree. It wasn’t like my soul prevented me from fighting Felldyne, or a hundred other things I’d done before I fell into this weird game. That wasn’t even my real soul anyway…

Was it…?

Ink let out an audible snort, smirking up at Error. “I’m not stalking you…this time.” He quipped, causing me to double take. Just what kind of guy was I following around???

Ink then shrugged and leaned against a few criss crossed strings, them easily holding his weight. “It’s just your bad luck to pick this particular au to destroy while I’m in it, that’s all.” He twirled the brush in his phalanges, little splats of black paint spinning out to slice more of the strings around him. “I do have one question though, weren’t you still avoiding Underswap, or am I misremembering something?”

Error let out a growl, hand jerking the strings next to him, suddenly lifting the ones on the ground into the air, catching Ink’s legs and lifting _him_ as well. “I don’t have to tell you anything!” He snarled, before flinging his other hand out and shooting several red bones in Ink’s direction.

Meanwhile Blue was fighting his brother’s hold next to me. “C’mon Sans!” Stretch growled, trying to tug his shorter brother away.

“But I wanna help!” Blue protested, struggling in Stretch’s grip. He probably could’ve broken out of it but it was clear he didn’t want to hurt Stretch.

Stretch tugged Blue and I firmly away from the strings, almost like he was afraid of them.

“And _I don’t want to see you get kidnapped again_!” Stretch hissed, nearly bruising us in his grip, his eyelights were _pinpricks_. “Ink can handle himself! Or do you want to leave me behind?”

That made Blue deflate, and he gave a pained look at Ink as the artist _somehow_ managed to get himself untangled. He was using his giant brush again, dancing along the strings almost as gracefully as Error, using them to move and dodge through the air while slicing others with his paint.

“…Fine.” Blue caved, then his eyelights shifted to the side, and he frowned. “But what about Chara…?”

Stretch was distracted, so I pulled out of his hold and dodged another grab. I thought that since Error was busy with Ink, and with my training, I’d be the best option for the job. “I’ll handle it!” I called out, trying to give the brothers a confident grin as I made my way into the web, or rather beneath it. “I’ll grab them while Picasso and Grandma are busy.”

“Re, wait!” Stretch hissed, holding Blue closer to him, who looked equally as worried. “If Error gets you tangled he could use you against Ink!”

“So I won’t get tangled!” I answered, then I turned and ignored any protests behind me, it wasn’t like they had any recon training, I figured. I just had to stay on the downlow and get extract the kid before anyone found out what I was doing…easy, right?

Up above me the two skeletons were dancing around each other. Using the net as confidently as a spider in her web, Error manipulated the strings around his arms and legs to gain leverage while Ink just ran atop like he was walking a tightrope. “Y’know, I like this cat’s cradle you’ve got going here.” Ink commented, gripping a few threads and looping under another bone attack from Error. He executed a graceful flip back in place, grinning all the while. “Is this a new technique of yours?”

“ _Why aren’t you caught already?!_ ” Error snarled, before calling up a giant animal skull, it’s open maw shooting a huge white beam of energy in Ink’s direction. The heat seared my skin, and I was several feet away. It was a wonder the strings didn’t catch fire.

“Error, how long have we been fighting again?” Ink sighed, suddenly appearing behind Error via paint splatters from one of his attacks. The glitched skel quickly turned and jumped to the side, looking freaked out by the closeness.

“ _Too damn long_.” Error growled, fear turning into sudden disgust.

Ink didn’t bother to chase after him, instead using a few tightly weaved threads as a makeshift swing. “Exactly. So is it any wonder why I can move along your magic so easily?”

From the glitched screeching Error made he didn’t appreciate the comment.

Whilst Picasso and Grandma were busy, I ducked and weaved through a maze of strings of my own, though there were, thankfully, far less of them below the main net. I was extremely careful not to tug on any of them, seeing how Error moved and how I figured magic worked I didn’t want to risk his mimicking a spider’s way of sensing the vibrations. Eventually, however, I managed to make it to Chara, who’s wriggling and squirming had loosened the strings binding them enough that they were only a few feet off the ground.

They didn’t seem to appreciate my coming to get them however. “What are you doing?!” They hissed, glaring down at me as I got up from the crawl I’d been in to gingerly poke and prod the net of strings tying them up.

“Do you really wanna hang around here all day?” I asked dryly, arching a brow at them as I experimentally plucked a string, keeping a close eye on Error…no reaction. Damn, but I hadn’t wanted to risk it on the way here.

Chara huffed, looking back at the two fighting skels. “Fine.”

Ink continued to dodge and weave around all of Error’s attacks as if they’d choreographed the entire fight, though Error did the same for his. The artist then paused and leaned against another weaving of strings, crossing his arms and legs. “You should just face it, this fight’s a forgone conclusion.” He drawled, lazily gripping the ‘wall’ he’d been leaning on and using it as leverage to swing around another attack. “Win or lose you won’t get what you want.” He continued.

“And what if I want you to _die_?” Error growled, before sending more bones to cut the bits of his net that Ink was standing on in an attempt to make him drop.

“It won’t work.” Ink laughed, using the elasticity of the strings to jump up higher in the net, seconds before they were cut free. “I’ll just come back, remember? And even if you manage it the people in this AU’ll just band together or flee, and _you_ won’t have the energy to destroy this place.”  He finished, pointing a finger in Error’s direction. “Honestly, this whole routine’s getting predictable.” He sighed, flopping back against the strings.

Error paused, socket twitching. “Am I _boring_ you?” He asked, aghast.

“Little bit.” Ink quipped, only to drop before another two animal skulls fired and toasted the area he’d just been in.

“What’s taking so long???” Chara demanded, giving a quick glance at me before looking back at the fight, using their body as a shield to keep me from being seen by Error. Unfortunately, I wasn’t making any headway on the strings, they were tough as tephlon and stiff as wire.

“You wouldn’t happen to have anything sharp on hand, would you?” I asked, slightly exasperated. I wished I’d thought to grab a knife when this whole thing started.

Thankfully Chara was able to surprise me. “Left pocket, backside.” They quipped soon as I asked.

Frowning, I struggled with the strings covering that area before managing to yank out a rather _large_ looking flipblade, the kind one would expect to see in a mafia movie, the kind that were usually labeled ‘illegal’ in most states.

“…Do I even want to know…?” I asked, before getting to work.

“Hey, _you_ spend days trapped underground with everyone trying to kill you and see how paranoid _you_ get.” They grumbled, flinching when the blade almost came too close to their clothes.

“…Fair point.”

Meanwhile Ink and Error were still busy chasing each other along the net, though Ink was treating the entire thing like a casual stroll despite the blasts and bones nipping at his clothes. “Y’know, I can think of _so many other things_ we could be doing. There’s Carnivaltale, Chocotale, I even hear Fresh is hosting a party in his ‘verse.”

Error grimaced. “I hate that guy.”

Ink flipped and landed a few strings above Error’s head. “Beats getting your ass handed to you, doesn’t it?” He mocked, before swinging his brush down to smack Error in the face.

“ _Arg_ -WILL YOU JUST **SHUT UP**?!” Error roared, using a bone to knock the giant paintbrush away, shattering it and breaking it in half. Ink muttered a curse and leapt higher in the web, Error nipping at his heels.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” Chara hissed, wriggling in their cocoon and watching the fight nervously, with the two jumping all over the place it was likely a matter of time before they managed to see me.

“Hang on, these strings are tougher than they look and your knife isn’t _nearly_ sharp enough to cut them easily.” I grumbled, poor Chara was going to need a new knife after this. Thankfully a moment after I managed to cut a few. “Hah! I think I’ve got the trick now.”

“Y’know, I hear Muffet’s opened a new coffee shop over in swapfell, wanna go check it out?” Ink suggested, still jumping all along the strings, hands holding a couple small brushes between his finger since his bigger one was broken.

“Are you shitting me?” Error hissed.

Ink paused, resting against another wall of threads, his chin in one of his hands. “Hmm, no you’re right, she might be inclined to poison what you order.” He then grinned at Error. “Maybe some other place?”

Error paused completely, hand lifted mid attack, brows furrowed in confusion. “Are-are you trying to ask me out?”

Ink smirked. “Maybe.”

“Wha-tha-How many times do I have to tell YOU NO MEANS _NO_ **_ASSHOLE_**!!!” Error screamed, before sending an entire hailstorm of bones in Ink’s direction.

“I am so confused right now.” I muttered, working furiously on Chara’s cocoon and trying hard to not think about what kind of guy my ‘guide’ was turning out to be. This day was so weird.

“What’s there to be confused about? Just two godlike entities talking shit while tearing apart the fabric of the universe around them.” Chara rattled off, gesturing with their head to the edges of Error’s strings, where what looked like glitched cracks were starting to form in the very air they were attached to. “Same shit as always.”

I blinked, staring blankly at the cracks. “Y’all should invest in some frequent dyer miles.” I suggested.

Chara smirked down at me. “What makes you think I don’t already have a card?”

I was interrupted from thinking up a retort by another energy beam, this one close enough to sear the back of my neck. My surprised shriek was thankfully masked by the resulting noise, as a partially dissolved tree cracked and crashed to the ground.

“Look, now you broke a tree. I have to fix a _tree_ Error do you know how much of a pain they are to draw?!” Ink griped, or mocked, honestly I wasn’t sure which at that point.

“Whoops.” Error commented not so apologetically, smirking as he summoned up another animal skull. “It was askin’ for it.”

“THAT TREE DID NOTHING TO YOU!” Ink yelled, sending a hail of Ink created bone spurs of his own.

“…Are they taking _any_ of this seriously?” I couldn’t help but ask, in complete awe of the ridiculousness in front of me.

Chara snorted. “ _No._ Well.” They paused. “Maybe. I think they’ve been at this for so long they’re just going through the motions.”

I paused, frowning. “Are we even in danger?” I asked, because honestly I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Oh fuck yes.” Chara answered, sweating a little and giving the fight another nervous glance. “Please hurry the fuck up.”

I duly obliged.

“There is no _fucking_ way you’re moving so easily on these.” Error griped, as Ink made yet another graceful dodge around one of his attacks.

Ink laughed and monkey swung around again, facing Error with a mocking smirk. “You used this same pattern on me twenty years ago. Did you think I’d forget?”

Error arched a skeptical brow. “You can barely remember what you had to eat yesterday, I doubt you’d remember anything from twenty years ago.”

Ink sighed and gracefully balanced along another string, hands held out to both sides. “It’s called a rough estimate, I’m at least 90% sure you’ve used this weave before.”

Error paused in his attack, shoulders slumping as he leaned against his strings himself. “…We really have been at this too long, haven’t we?”

“That’s what I’ve been _saying_!” Ink exclaimed, before hopping down another string and hooking his legs around it, flipping to face Error upside down. “So why don’t you just give up already and we can go get some nice cream or something?”

“Hmm….” Error seemed to consider it, then he twitched one of his phalanges, his grin turning sly. “Nah, why don’t we spice things up instead?”

And just as I’d managed to cut the last string, freeing Chara from their cocoon and helping them down to earth, those same strings animated and started to move.  

“Shit-go!” I yelled, pushing Chara away just as they reached for me, tangling tightly around my limbs.

“Re wait! No!” Chara called out, but it was too late.

I felt the peculiar feeling of gravity going the wrong way, my stomach lifting to my throat as I was flipped and spun, until I reached Error and was faced to meet him eye to upside down eye.

“I don’t remember agreeing to a manage a trois.” Ink commented idly.

Error smirked in my face, glitchy chuckling sending shivers up my spine…or down it rather. “It’s your fault for complaining, now-what th’ fuck is this…?” He then seemed to actually pay attention to me, making note at last that I wasn’t a normal AU denizen, his eyes squinting like he couldn’t see clearly to begin with.

Those eyes immediately turned from mocking to hateful, and he glared at me as if I’d personally offended him. Suddenly all those jokes didn’t make him seem less threatening anymore.

 **“WHO. ARE. YOU.”** He snarled.

“Just a straggler, she landed in the Doodlesphere earlier today. No one to throw a fit over.” Ink chimed in, speaking quickly and calmly.

Error narrowed his mismatched eyes, leaning closer, his breath smelling like ozone and hot metal. “What kind of fucked up glitch is this-“ He stopped, eyes glancing up to my folded back ears, a hand reaching out to brush against one. Oddly the only thing I ‘felt’ from the contact was a faint buzzing pressure.

“This is paint.” He stated flatly, before turning to glare in Ink’s direction.

I frowned, inwardly irritated. “They aren’t permanent-“ I started, more than a bit miffed that I was gonna get sassed over them by this guy too.

But I didn’t get a chance to finish. “YOU SHUT UP!” Error snarled in my face, making me squeak and promptly do as suggested. This guy seemed to have some serious _anger_ issues…

He then took a deep breath (though why he’d need one I didn’t know) and slowly turned to face Ink again. “Ink…” He growled, voice low and rumbling the way a predator’s would.

“It’s just paint Error, she bloody asked for them.” Ink’s voice sounded both exasperated and tired.

Error wasn’t deterred. “ _What did you do.”_ He demanded, though the glitchy sounds were starting to overshadow his words with more frequency.

“Do you honestly think I’d add tacky animal parts of my own volition?” Ink huffed, making me pout. They weren’t _that_ tacky, were they?

 _“Ink…”_ Error growled again, voice glitching more.

“I’d at least have tried to give her something _useful_ , like wings or an extra set of limbs.” Ink kept rambling, seemingly unconcerned that Error was getting angrier.

“INK!” Error yelled, glitches covering _himself_ along with his voice.

“Maybe you’re right, not sure anyone but a spider could pull off that look.” Ink muttered, the entire incident getting a surreal feeling again.

“ ** _I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE DAMN PAINT_**!” Error yelled, voice barely legible under the glitches, some of them starting to cover his eyes of all the darn things.

A beat. “…Then what are you talking about?” Ink asked, genuinely confused.

Error took another breath, some of the glitches vanishing from his sockets as he did so, and when he spoke the glitches had receded from his voice as well. “I’m talking…” He growled. “About her **code**.”

Fuck.

Meanwhile down on the ground where they were precedingly ignored by the arguing deific skeletons Chara had been reunited with their skele-friends.

And none of them were enjoying what they were seeing.

“Shit.” Blue hissed, before turning to Chara. “You have to RESET!”

“Sans!” Stretch protested, voice more than a little strained as he gaped at his brother.

Chara, for all their former sass curled in on themselves, nervously looking from us to the skeleton brothers and back again. “But I worked so hard to get us up here!”

Blue forced a confident grin, gloved fists clenched in front of him. “It’ll be okay! I know you can do it again!”

“Sans, it’s been _years_!” Stretch hissed. “And we don’t even know what’ll _happen_ to you-“

“That doesn’t matter!” Blue cut off, eyelights never leaving Chara.

Chara held themselves, clutching at their chest in particular. “I-I don’t wanna lose everything…Mom, dad, you two-“

Back in murdertown I was dealing with a little crises of my own. “….What about my code?” I asked, voice shaking. What if he knew the truth? What would he do if he found out-?

Error was still quite against me giving any input. He turned those baleful eyes back at me, even closer than last. “If you don’t _zip it_ I’m going to take out the trash _early_. **Kapisch**?!”

“Error, you know I don’t read code.” Ink drawled, still sounding tired. “What’s the problem?”

Error glared in Ink’s direction again. “It’s _weird_!”

“Is that all?” Ink asked dryly.

“I can’t explain it but there’s something wrong and _I want to know what it is_!” Error yelled, gesturing violently to me.

Blue cupped Chara’s cheeks, eyelights bright and big. “Don’t worry, you’ll see Asgore again first thing! And you know me and Papy’ll be there for you soon after.” Then he frowned. “But if we don’t do something soon none of us’ll be able to see each other ever again!”

“Well, we can’t all get what we want, can we?” Ink scoffed in response to Error’s bitching.

Error spun, in the process spinning me to see that Ink had gotten closer to the both of us, and Error swung himself to glare in his face. “Listen here you _technicolored gremlin_.” He snarled. “I _know_ you know what’s up, and if you don’t _tell_ me I’m gonna _break your new toy_!”

Ink crossed his arms and arched a brow, eyes shifting to cyan and green. “What makes you so sure I know _anything_ about her? I just met her today.” He huffed.

If possible Error pulled himself closer, fangs showing as his eyelights glowed. “’Cause if you _didn’t_ you wouldn’t be leading her around. You wouldn’t _care_.”

Ink stared, didn’t even flinch as error got in his face, his eyelights switching from cyan to brown to red as he blinked. “…What makes you think I care?” He said, finally, voice still sounding more bored than anything else.

“Wait!” Stretch hissed, drawing both Chara and Blue’s attention to him. “ _Reload_!”

Blue’s expression brightened. “That’s right!” He faced Chara again, letting go of their face. “Chara, how long’s it been since you saved?”

Chara’s face fell, and they looked away. “It’s been so long I don’t remember…”

“What about the night before the talent show last week?” Stretch asked, peering closely at them.

Blue gaped, expression hurt. “You _didn’t_!”

A flush to their pale skin attested to their guilt. “…I might’ve saved while staying with Mom and Sans…”

Blue looked crushed. “Chara that’s cheating! And right under my nose too!”

“Do we really have time for a lecture now bro?” Stretch asked, voice wry.

Blue hesitated, but then deflated, crossing his arms and pouting. “Fine, but you and I are talking about this later!” He huffed, jabbing a phalange in Chara’s direction.

I flinched, shut my eyes at what Ink said, though I wasn’t surprised. Why would he care? Why should he care? This wasn’t that deep.

…Why did _I_ care?

“Hehehehehe.” Errors voice sent another chill up my spine and I opened my eyes again. He leered at Ink, let go of the strings next to him and swung back over to me. “Is _that_ so?” He mused, before easily shifting the knots holding one of my arms down and grabbing it in his deceptively delicate boney hand. He smirked. “Then I guess you won’t mind if I break a few _limbs_.”

I swallowed.

“Is this _really_ necessary?” Ink asked, sockets narrowing as his hands gripped his arms.

“No.” Error quipped, other hand gripping a bit lower. My heart pounded in my chest, breath increasing rapidly, and I quickly shut my eyes tight. “But it _is_ fun.”

SNAP.

Pain, blinding white blinded me, my ears ringing loudly, my mind completely phasing out so I didn’t have to deal with it.

I might have blacked out.

When my sight returned, the pain had become a sharp throbbing, and I was legitimately terrified to move, terrified to _breath_ lest I feel that again. I’d sustained injuries in basic training before but…never like _that_.

“Nothing to say…?” Error asked, still smirking in Ink’s direction, I didn’t have the energy to look at him.

“I’m not entirely sure what you’re looking for Error.” Came his voice, still casual as you please, fortunately I didn’t have the energy to spare to get properly incensed at that moment either.

Error huffed, then shrugged, holding out his hand to my chest. “Too bad, guess I’ll have to take out the trash after all then.”

And then for the second time I saw my soul.

Error stared at it a moment, then he grinned and started laughing. “Oh my stars, do you _see_ this??? The fuck is this shit-it’s barely holding together!” He kept laughing, holding his head in his hand as he grinned back at Ink. “No wonder you’re running with her, she could match _us_ almost!”

Then suddenly strings wrapped tightly around it, and if I wasn’t so focused on the pain in my arm it’d probably be more than slightly uncomfortable.

“What’s say we put her out of her misery?” He purred.

Ink let out a derisive snort. “Only reason she’s miserable’s cuz of what you’re doin’ mate.” He rumbled, voice low.

Stretch and Blue crowded around Chara, stretch glancing up worriedly at the three of us. “Hurry!” Stretch hissed.

“I’m still waiting on an answer Ink.” Error growled, the hand not holding the strings attached to my soul holding up three Phalanges. “You have until the count of three, then she breaks. One.”

“He’s gonna kill her!”

“Two.”

Suddenly a glow lit from Chara’s direction, a red and familiar screen hovering in front of them.

“…Three.”

 _Click_.

A flash followed, and for a moment Error was distracted. During that black paint sliced through the strings around my soul, and then another slice cut me free from the cocoon, a dense weight knocking into me, wrapping around my waist as we both fell to the ground below.

Then the light got brighter, and the weight was jerked away from my person.

Next thing I knew, I crashed to the ground with a very solid _thud_.

And there was no pain.

My vision cleared, _and there was no pain_.

“…What just happened?” I asked myself, clutching my suddenly healed arm and glancing around. No strings, no damage, but the same front yard. Nothing looked out of place…

Then I spotted Stretch leaning against the wall, cigarette held loosely in his hand as he starred blankly up at nothing, dazed.

“…Stretch?” I called out, jerking him back to the real world as he focused at me.

Then he stared.

“…Re…?” He asked, looking more than a little confused. “How…how are you still here…?”

I frowned, still clutching hard to my arm, still too afraid to move lest I jolt it and get sent back to that world of pain. “I dunno…what happened? Where’s Blue and Chara…?” I looked around, no one but us two were there, not even Ink or Error.

Stretch frowned, then put out his cig and walked up to me. “Chara did a Reload, we’re a week in the past and they’re with Sans and the Queen-and you shouldn’t be here at all.” He stopped in front of me, squinting.

I blinked, brain still feeling more than a bit frazzled. If this was what experiencing a Reload was like I didn’t begrudge anyone’s fate to be aware of them. “Why’s that?” I asked.

He reached up to rub at his brow, looking at me like a particularly difficult puzzle. “Anyone who doesn’t belong to an AU gets kicked out during a RESET or Reload…you should be wherever the heck Error and Ink got knocked to, not…not still _here_ …”

“….” I froze up, couldn’t think of any way to reply to that.

Stretch then sighed, arms flopping to his sides. “Nevermind. We can ask Ink about it when he comes back for you, he deals with this a lot more than me or Bro anyway.” He grinned. “Guess you’re stuck here for the time being sweetness.”

I gave a shy smile, noting that even though he gave Ink a hard time Stretch was a sweetheart. “Thanks…hope you guys don’t mind.”

Stretch scoffed and waved a hand dismissively. “Pah, it’s no problem. Sans loves having company and I wouldn’t mind having a new drinking buddy for a few days.” He gave me a wink, making me chuckle.

Relaxed by Stretch’s cavalier attitude I managed to stand, though I had to still test my arm now and again to make sure it still wasn’t broken-gods that was something I never wanted to feel again. My gaze swept the area, like I felt compelled to look for more strings, when I spotted it.

“…What’s that…?” I asked, pointing for Stretch to look and see what I was, a white flicker, almost static overlay in the air. “Doesn’t that look like one of the glitches Error was starting to make?”

Stretch hummed and slowly nodded, before making his way carefully over. I followed behind. “Looks like it…we should probably check this out, see if we can’t mitigate the damage, and if not that, we should tell Ink so he can fix it himself.”

We then cautiously approached it, only to notice more glitches further in the woods, some attached to trees, some rocks, some grass. By mutual agreement with decided to follow them, the better to observe the extent of the damage.

It was a few feet in the forest where I got uncomfortable with the silence. “So…I’m still a little new to all this…” I said slowly. “But, if I’m right…Ink…protects the universes, and Error…?” I glanced up at Stretch, hoping he might answer some questions I’d been too busy rushing around to ask Ink.

“Destroys them.” He quipped, attention still focused on the glitches we were following. “You’ll get used to these weird multiverse quirks eventually.” He added, turning to grin at me and giving my shoulder a little encouraging pat. “Especially if you’re gonna run with Ink a bit longer.”

My brain flashed back to the fight, and I started to wonder if that was actually a good idea or not…

Time to think of something else.

“Uh, another question.” I began. “You mentioned earlier that Blue left with Ink a lot himself?”

Stretch let out a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping. “Yeah…seems bro’s got a nasty habit of attracting outcodes and other alternates for some reason.” He scowled. “It’s a bit of a pain…holy-“ He suddenly stopped, starring in shock at the vast amount of glitches and what could only be described as _tears_ in the clearing we’d come across.

I felt a little faint myself, it didn’t look healthy for this universe at all. “…That’s a lot of glitches.” I commented.

“Ink’s gonna have a field day fixing this-oh!” He reached out to grasp my arm as I’d been almost entranced by the tears, reaching out to touch one out of morbid curiosity. “Don’t touch that-dunno what it’ll do to your code.”

“…Right.” I let my arm drop, taking a step back for good measure, hands shoving into my coat pockets. “So…” I glanced back at Stretch. “Kidnapping?”

He flinched. “Was hopin’ you hadn’t caught that.” He grumbled, before giving me another strained grin, his face lit up by the glowing white given off by the damaged background. “Blue was kidnapped by Error a few years ago, him and Chara-well-Chara’s soul to be exact.” His face fell. “…it took a while for them to come back home.”

Guilt tightened my chest. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

He shook his head, giving me another, more sincere grin. “Nah, he’s okay now…mostly.” Before I could ask about _that_ his attention was suddenly caught by another area in the clearing. “Hey-what’s this?”

I looked in the area as well and frowned, there was what looked like a glowing plant surrounded by sparkles. “…Looks like a lily.” I commented, and indeed it did look sort of like one…with spread flower petals and no stem…but there was no pad and it was hovering above the ground, not the water.

And no lily _I_ knew had alternating colored petals.

“Never seen a flower like this before.” Stretch murmured, before walking closer to it and kneeling down. His hand reached out, and I realized too late what he was about to do.

“I wouldn’t touch-“ Way too late. His hand brushed one of the petals and it suddenly vanished, and Stretch _froze_.

“…Stretch…?” I called out hesitantly, ears folding as an uneasy feeling settled into my stomach once again.

Stretch still didn’t move.

“…Papyrus…?” I called out again, voice softer.

Suddenly Stretch stood, though his movements were jerky, almost robotic.

***Awesome.**

Instead of words, text popped up in front of him, angled in such a way that I could read it, and the font wasn’t Papyrus’ signature font.

***It actually worked!**

I suddenly had a bad feeling.

***I’m Swap Papyrus now.**

Then he, they, turned to face me. Stretch’s face grinning a frozen Papyrus grin, and if I wasn’t aware of just how expressive he and the other skeletons were normally it wouldn’t look nearly so unnerving.

He- _they_ -blinked, seemingly confused.

***What’s this?**

“Uhh…” I began intelligently, my every instinct on high alert. My brain knew what was happening but I didn’t quite want to _acknowledge_ it.

***A new NPC?**

And suddenly I couldn’t pretend anymore. “You…think this is a game…?” I said slowly, suddenly wishing for a weapon, for Blue to be around, anything.

Because I couldn’t fight.

***Or maybe…**

Not like any of the _other_ game characters could.

“…You’re a player, aren’t you…” I asked, stomach full of a leaden weight.

***A new enemy? =)**

I was officially boned.

The first thing they did was ACT, CHECK and a screen floated in front of them. Though it was faced in their direction, somehow I could read it easily myself.

MUSE – ATK 15 DEF 3  
* the SOUL is weak making it easy to damage

“Wait, I have _stats_???” I couldn’t help but comment, and this entire time I’d thought I was an anomaly. What was Error even talking about? And holy hell that ATK… “I didn’t know I had _stats_ …”

I didn’t have much time to dwell on this new and rather confusing information because the Player took that opportunity to figure out Stretch’s attacks, summoning a bunch of bones to shoot up under my feet. I had to react quickly to leap out of the way, just barely missing my coat getting torn. “Shit…” This was the third fight I’d been in/around in a day and honestly it was getting tiring.

“What I wouldn’t give for a weapon right about now…” I grumbled, only to have the Player leap in front of my face, a huge bone club aimed right at my vulnerable skull.

“Ack!” I held up a hand and-something-seemed to react in reflex inside me, because before either of us knew it there was a loud crack like a gunshot and the club in the Player’s hands was shattered in half.

We stared at each other a moment, both caught off guard, until I looked to the side of me and-

There was floating green rifle in the air.

Holy balls I had a weapon.

***Sweet! Humans have magic in this mod!**

“Okay…” I frowned, maybe pouting a little. “So, do you just assume cuz of my looks or are you just gonna ignore the ears and tail-you’re right about me being human though.” What even was the point of these extra limbs again?

The Player didn’t seem to feel the need to answer me, instead calling up another giant femur and aiming to slam it into my head again.

I leapt once more out of the way, nearly running into a tree behind me. I dodged around the trunk just in time for it to catch a splintering hit in place of my torso.

“Okay, how did I…?” I muttered to myself, running purely on panicky adrenaline. There was a sort of…sense…that called up the gun, right?

I held out my hand again, reaching into that weird ‘feeling’ that seemed to warm my chest, and suddenly a green spark flashed in front of my vision, and the world went black for everything except a vague outline of the obstacles in my surroundings…

And Stretch’s body.

Overlaying his outline were numbers very similar to the CHECK stats that the Player had summoned earlier.

GAMER – ATK 5 DEF 20  
* Thinks it’s all a game =)

But that wasn’t the most unnerving part. The outline around Stretch allowed me to see inside him as well…and that meant I could see his SOUL.

And the glowing flower with roots buried deep inside it.

“The hell…?”

While I was distracted, of course, GAMER had been messing around themself, and in place of the bone club they summoned up what looked like a glowing orange bat.

Their stats changed accordingly, making his ATK into a 10.

***Looks like I got one too.**

“Gods dammit.” I griped, looks like I was double boned, and I quickly jumped to the side to avoid getting a home run to my skull (that poor tree got hit again) and reached down to nab one of the previous femurs used in GAMER’s first attack.

Which was just in time, because as they were getting used to Stretch’s body they were moving faster, too fast for me to dodge. They swiped down with the bat and I blocked, getting flashbacks to my time fighting Felldyne.

And then I blocked again, and again, and again, thanking the gods for all those years in basic training. I struggled to get my feet stable underneath me, which proved to be a problem as, getting frustrated with their lack of headway they decided to call up a bone attack right under me while at the same time aiming another blow to my head.

My poor feet got the brunt of the blow, though a belated dodging attempt saved them from getting too badly damaged, as it was they and my legs got some serious scrapes, ripping through my pants and scoring deep cuts.

“Nn!” I groaned, forced into a crouching, kneeling position as I held up the femur in front of me in defense, GAMER just turned and gave me that same frozen smile.

***Goodbye. =)**

They charged again, aiming down with the bat. I held the femur up to block and once more adrenaline saved my ass.

Because suddenly my vision blurred and, I wasn’t seeing what was in front of me, or rather, I wasn’t seeing it from my _own_ perspective anymore.

Instead I was seeing things as if I was _behind_ and _above_ both myself and GAMER.

And I had a lock onto GAMER’s SOUL.

I fired.

GAMER’s bat dissipated, and they clutched to their chest where a hole in Stretch’s hoody had appeared, though thankfully (at least for Stretch) it hadn’t been a direct hit. My vision suddenly returned to normal, though a floating health bar seated above their skull looked to be half in the red.

I managed to take the opportunity to stand myself up, ignoring any pain, and ran to put some distance between myself and GAMER.

When I looked back, however, Stretch’s form seemed to flicker, the empty space in his outline shifting quickly from Stretch’s normal self to lines of code and back again to the void with his soul.

His infected soul…

“It’s code…everything here is code…” I muttered to myself, mind flashing back to my early days in service, to labs and screens and programs and…

Code…

GAMER called up another bone attack from the ground, and I rolled out of the way, my mind working furiously the entire time.

Boxes of stats, code, and somehow I was seeing it now. You couldn’t mess with it while in a game but-

But I wasn’t in a game _anymore_ , was I?

“…Can I…delete the foreign code…?” I wondered to myself, eyes focused on the flower with it’s roots in Stretch’s soul. It was a risk, I didn’t know the original source, was never good at programming, but I knew enough to maybe guess at what was abnormal, didn’t I?

“If you can do it, I can do it too.” I muttered, holding out my hand again and, using the ‘vision’ or I guess I could call it a ‘scope’ I pulled my attention to what looked like options below the Stretch outline.

And there was an ACT button.

Somehow, in some metaphysical sense I selected it, and the option Recode was the only option available.

Clearly this dimension seemed to agree with my line of logic.

I selected it.

Suddenly what looked like a boxlike barrier surrounded the Stretch outline, and then the outline vanished, leaving only the flower infected soul in it’s place.

***What-wait-why didn’t it do this at the start of the fight?**

Good question.

“Because the programmers are shit.” I answered, somehow _understanding_ what I needed to do was flip the box, showing, instead of the soul, lines and lines of code.

And my eyes were drawn to a particularly odd line, one that didn’t match up with the rest of the code, one that had GAMER declared in one of it’s main outputs.

Again following that weird illogical metaphysical movement where what I thought was what I selected, the line was highlighted.

And then.

Deleted.

Suddenly the box flipped back to the soul, and it flashed into a ball of light.

And then that light extended out of the box and knocked into me, knocking that weird scope sight away and me to the ground.

And when I looked up Stretch was sprawled out, rubbing his skull and the flower soul _thing_ was back floating in the air.

“…It worked…?” I asked slowly, carefully getting up with care to my poor abused legs, though they were, slowly, starting to feel better.

“Ugh, my skull…” Stretch grumbled, groaning like he had a migraine, and frankly I couldn’t blame him.

But I was paying wary attention to the flower, which spun and floated around in what I could only guess was an agitated manner, I’d just ruined their game after all.

“I can’t believe it worked….” I laughed, grinning, though I frowned quickly in concern, eyes still on the player flower warily. “…Now gotta figure out what the hell to do with you…” I murmured to it, maybe I could put it in a box-thing again?

But the player flower was having none of it, instead they flew straight into one of the tears in the air, vanishing soon as it touched the glowing white light.

“Hey, wait!” No way was I letting them get away, they were my only connection to my dimension after all! So I reached out and touched one of the tears as well.

“Re, what…?” Stretch began, before his voice suddenly faded out as he called out for me. I felt myself being pulled, stretched and narrowed into the tear itself, as if my very being was disintegrating into lines of it’s own code, it was enough to make me want Ink’s weird melting teleporting again.

And, mercifully, I blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blue reminds me a lot of the fairy tale character Jack, so I decided to base him a little off that. That's why he's got so many different versions of himself as canon in this AU (which means no Blueberror, I'm sorry.) As it stands, he's a mixture of Ink's Blue, Error's Blue, the blog Royalblue's Blue and my own hodgepodge of headcanons inspired by askblogs of the brothers. The most prominent effect is his time with Error because there were certain side effects...
> 
> Oh, but he's still shorter than Ink. Because. :P 
> 
> Anyways;  
> Ink belongs to Comyet/Myebi  
> Error belongs to TheCrayonQueen  
> Underswap belongs to the community (though I've lifted liberally from the au's mentioned above)
> 
> Dream's mentioned but I should mention he also is not mine, he belong's to Joku, we'll see more of him later.
> 
> I apologize for the ship teasing, lol, let's just say Ink and Error have a Frenemies with benefits relationship, they aren't romantic though. Error hate's Ink's guts and Ink gets sick of his temper, they irritate each other. (Ink's gotten around quite a bit though...) 
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it, tell me if my writing's gotten too stilted thanks to this strategy yeah? 
> 
> Ciao!


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